Assessing lumbar paraspinal muscle cross-sectional area and fat composition with T1 versus T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging: Reliability and concurrent validity
Fig 6
Examples of subtle but important variations in appearance of anatomy.
A & B: T2-weighted and T1-weighted sequences with cross-sectional outlines. Note obvious differences in outlining adjacent to the facet joint on the right and lateral muscle margin on the left, both rated at 2 for mismatch. C: T2-weighted image (original). Arrows highlight the subtle fascial plane used by the examiner as the dividing line between multifidus and erector spinae muscle groups; white dotted circle highlights obvious bone hypertrophy from facet arthrosis, not included by the examiner. D: T1-weighted image (original). Arrows with “?” highlight the absence of a clear fascial plane, with two potential options open to the examiner–the outer option was used; white dotted circle highlights same region as image C, but the type of tissue is not as obvious, and was included as muscle on the T1 image.