A Standard Procedure for Examination of the Human Skeletal Muscular System

Abstract

The human skeletal muscular system consists of a large number of striated muscles with a wide variation in size and functional significance, from the very small mm. bulbi and m. stapedius to the large m. quadriceps. In principle all these muscles can be visualized by CT scanning. In clinical practice, however, for which the present procedure is intended, the dose of radiation and the time required for such examinations are prohibitive, the precise identification of many muscles remains difficult and the diagnostic and therapeutic value of the description of lesions in an individual muscle is often rather irrelevant. Limiting the CT examination to a number of well-selected scan levels thus seemed a mandatory requirement for making it acceptable as a routine procedure in the examination of myopathies.