The relation between local and distal muscle fat infiltration in chronic whiplash using magnetic resonance imaging

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between fat infiltration in the cervical multifidi and fat infiltration measured in the lower extremities to move further into understanding the complex signs and symptoms arising from a whiplash trauma. Thirty-one individuals with chronic whiplash associated disorders, stratified into a mild/moderate group and a severe group, together with 31 age- and gender matched controls were enrolled in this study. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to acquire a 3D volume of the neck and of the whole-body. Cervical multifidi was used to represent muscles local to the whiplash trauma and all muscles below the hip joint, the lower extremities, were representing widespread muscles distal to the site of the trauma. The fat infiltration was determined by fat fraction in the segmented images. There was a linear correlation between local and distal muscle fat infiltration (p<0.001, r(2) = 0.28). The correlation remained significant when adjusting for age and WAD group (p = 0.009) as well as when correcting for age, WAD group and BMI (p = 0.002). There was a correlation between local and distal muscle fat infiltration within the severe WAD group (p = 0.0016, r(2) = 0.69) and in the healthy group (p = 0.022, r(2) = 0.17) but not in the mild/moderate group (p = 0.29, r(2) = 0.06). No significant differences (p = 0.11) in the lower extremities’ MFI between the different groups were found. The absence of differences between the groups in terms of lower extremities’ muscle fat infiltration indicates that, in this particular population, the whiplash trauma has a local effect on muscle fat infiltration rather than a generalized.