The role of visualization research methods in the diagnosis of primary muscle dystonia (review)

Objective: to analyze the literature data on the possibilities of neuro-imaging methods in the diagnosis of muscular dystonia. This article discusses the results of studies of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with tractography (DT-MRI), voxel MR morphometry (VOM), functional MRI (fMRI), MR spectroscopy, positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the brain in primary muscular dystonia. The research material was the analysis of literary data published in the PubMed and eLibrary databases. The period of electronic search was 1976-2021, combinations of the keywords "dystonia" and "neuro-imaging" were used. 34 sources were used to write the review. Despite the fact that the diagnosis of muscular dystonia is based on the clinical picture, the achievements of modern neuro-imaging methods can help in the differential diagnosis of primary and secondary forms of muscular dystonia, as well as determining the tactics of surgical treatment. To determine functional neuroanatomic substrates, the most preferred method of neuro-imaging is fMRI with measurement of the functional activity of the cerebral cortex, which is especially important for action-specific forms of dystonia and the choice of treatment tactics in functional neurosurgery.