Effectiveness of T2-mapping imaging in assessing disease severity in Spinal muscular atrophy: preliminary study

To evaluate the potential of T2-mapping imaging as a qMRI marker for disease severity in Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), we compared the T2 with muscle fat fraction (MFF), and clinical assessment of 13 muscles in the pelvis and thighs of 20 patients with SMA. A significant correlation was found between the mean T2 of all muscles and the patient’s clinical evaluation and MFF. Moreover, the highest mean T2 was found in the gluteus maximus, while the lowest in the adductor longus. Therefore, T2 mapping can be used as a quantitative and objective MRI technique to assess disease severity in SMA.