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Shoulder muscle volume and fat content in healthy adult volunteers: quantification with DIXON MRI to determine the influence of demographics and handedness

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Abstract

Objective

We aimed to provide mean values for fat-fraction and volume for full-length bilateral rotator cuff and deltoid muscles in asymptomatic adults selected on the basis of their good musculoskeletal and systemic health, and to understand the influence of gender, age, and arm dominance.

Materials and methods

Seventy-six volunteers aged 20 to 60 years who were screened for normal BMI and high general health were included in the study. MRI was performed at 3 Tesla using three-point DIXON sequences. Volume and fat-signal fraction of the rotator cuff muscles and the deltoid muscle were determined with semi-automated segmentation of entire muscle lengths. Differences according to age, gender, and handedness per muscle were evaluated.

Results

Fat-signal fractions were comparable between genders (mean ± 2 SD, 95% CI, women 7.0 ± 3.0; 6.8–7.2%, men 6.8 ± 2.7; 6.7–7.0%) but did not show convincing changes with age. Higher shoulder muscle volume and lower fat-signal fraction in the dominant arm were shown for teres minor and deltoid (p < 0.01) with similar trends shown for the other rotator cuff muscles.

Conclusions

Bilateral fat-signal fractions and volumes based on entire length shoulder muscles in asymptomatic 20–60 year old adults may provide reference for clinicians. Differences shown according to arm dominance should be considered and may rationalize the need for bilateral imaging in determining appropriate management.

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Acknowledgements

We thank our physicists Dr. Daniel Nanz, PhD and Dr. Roger Luechinger, PhD, for their technical support, Dr. Dan Linh Nguyen, MD, for her indications concerning the analysis software, and our radiographers Nicole Aebi, Suzanne Potter, and Simone Suess for performing the MR exams.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, University Hospital and University of Zurich, Ramistrasse 100, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland

    Pascal S. Kälin, Magda Marcon & Erika J. Ulbrich

  2. Centre for Health Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland

    Rebecca J. Crawford

  3. Faculty of Health Professions, Curtin University, Perth, Australia

    Rebecca J. Crawford

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Andrei Manoliu

  5. Department of Orthopedics, University Hospital Balgrist and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Samy Bouaicha

  6. Medical Radiological Institute (MRI), Zurich, Switzerland

    Michael A. Fischer

Authors
  1. Pascal S. Kälin
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  7. Erika J. Ulbrich
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Correspondence to Pascal S. Kälin.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interests to disclose.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Origin of work

Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Ramistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland

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Kälin, P.S., Crawford, R.J., Marcon, M. et al. Shoulder muscle volume and fat content in healthy adult volunteers: quantification with DIXON MRI to determine the influence of demographics and handedness. Skeletal Radiol 47, 1393–1402 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-018-2945-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-018-2945-1

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