[en] In electric injuries, the evaluation of the extent and magnitude of deep tissue injuries is difficult when observing from the surface. An attempt was made to visualize the deep tissue injuries by MRI and correlate the signal pattern to the pathology. Under pentobarbital anesthesia, alterating current (50 Hz, 800-1,500 V, 0.5-1.0 sec) was applied between the posterior leg and the abdomen of New Zealand white rabbits (N=10). In vivo MRI studies have been performed immediately after the injury. We acquired T1-weighted (T1WI) and T2-weighted images (T2WI) routinely, adding fat-suppressed images if necessary. Six rabbits were sacrificed following MRI studies and four rabbits were followed. In all animals, MRI visualized the deep tissue injuries in acute phase. Low to iso-signal intensity on T1WI with high signal intensity on T2WI correlated to deep tissue edema and muscle spiral degeneration, and disappeared within two weeks. High signal intensity on both T1WI and T2WI correlated to microvacuolated degeneration with hemostasis, that progressed to necrosis within thirty days. The volume of high signal intensity on each T1WI and T2WI correlated well to the electric energy. MRI is useful in both qualitative and quantitative assessment of the deep tissue damage such as edema, degeneration, progressive necrosis. (author)