Although muscular diseases are a huge and heterogeneous group, in most cases of progressive disease the result is focal or general muscular weakness that presents as an unspecific symptom. Imaging techniques that offer differential diagnostic clues are therefore urgently needed. Despite this, MRI has to date often been assigned a subsidiary role in the diagnostic work-up of these diseases owing to the frequent inability of routine MRI protocols to detect pathognomonic findings.

Part 1: Role of MRI in imaging the skeletal musculature: Value of Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Skeletal Musculature from a clinical point of view.- Correlation of skeletal muscle anatomical to MRI and US findings.- Imaging the skeletal muscle - when to use MRI and when to use ultrasound.- Part 2: Modern MRI techniques for assessment of the skeletal musculature: Whole-body MRI for evaluation of the entire skeletal system.- Diffusion-weighted and diffusion-tensor imaging: Applications in skeletal muscles.- Assessment of skeletal muscle perfusion using MRI (DCE, ASL, BOLD).- Skeletal muscle MR imaging beyond protons.- MR spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging for evaluation of skeletal muscle metabolism: Basics and applications in metabolic myopathies.- Part 3: MRI in the diagnostic work-up of the skeletal musculature: MRI of muscle injuries, such as muscle strains.- MRI in neurogenic myopathies and muscle denervation.- MRI in muscle dystrophies and other myogenic myopathies.- MRI in inflammatory myopathies and autoimmune-mediated myositis.- MRI in muscular channelopathies and myotonias.- MRI in muscle tumours and tumours of the muscle sheaths.