Computed and magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of myositis ossificans in children

BACKGROUND. Post-traumatic myositis ossificans (MO) is a complication of observation characterized by bone formation in soft tissues. The lesion, proceeding in stages, according to clinical and visual manifestations, manifests itself at each stage. The diagnosis is established based on anamnesis, features and research methods, which can be informative depending on the stage of the disease. AIM: To present the possibility of computed and magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of MO in children. METHODS: In this study we analyzed data from 68 children who had signs of MO according to radiological diagnostic methods. The average age of patients was 12.3±4.9, from 2 months to 17 years. There were 42 boys (61.76%), girls — 25 (38.24%). The cause of OM in the studied patients was damage to the musculoskeletal system (fractures, bruises of soft tissues) and/or impaired blood circulation in the muscles as a result of prolonged forced immobility during their stay in the intensive care unit, as well as in connection with the consequences of trauma (vegetative state, lower paraplegia). RESULTS: At the early stage of MO, classical radiographs in all 49 children were negative, at 4–6 weeks after injury, half of them had weak radiopaque changes in the surrounding space. CT showed initial soft tissue edema or volumetric changes, both with and without calcification at 4–6 weeks. In case of fuzzy zonal changes on CT and differential diagnosis MRI was performed in 34 children, which made it possible to solve problems with the diagnosis of MO. MO affected zones were identified in several anatomical areas: in 48 children out of 68, dysfunction of the muscles of the limbs was revealed, followed by the muscles of the pelvis (29 children) and upper limbs (14 children). CONCLUSION: Traumatic MO is capable of affecting any extraskeletal muscles. Our study showed that MO is more common in the anterior region of the thigh, which includes the quadriceps muscle group. For correct and timely MO diagnosis it needs to use several detection methods. CT is currently the best method for MO diagnosing. If the symptoms are not obvious on CT and there is a need for additional differential diagnosis, MRI should be performed.