Centre for Clinical Research in Spinal Pain, Injury and Health, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Division of Physiotherapy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2010 Apr 20;35(9):948-54. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181bb0e55.
Retrospective investigation of muscle changes in patients suffering from chronic whiplash-associated disorders (WAD).
To quantitatively compare the presence of muscle alterations (fatty infiltrate [MFI] and cross-sectional area [CSA]) in the anterior musculature of the cervical spine in a cohort of chronic whiplash patients (WAD II) and healthy control subjects across muscle and cervical segmental level.
Magnetic resonance imaging can be regarded as the gold standard for muscle imaging. There is little knowledge about in vivo features of anterior neck muscles in patients suffering from chronic WAD and how muscle structure differs across the factors of muscle, vertebral level, age, self-reported pain and disability, body mass index, and duration of symptoms.
Reliable magnetic resonance imaging measures for MFI and CSA were performed for the anterior cervical muscles bilaterally in 109 female subjects (78 WAD, 31 healthy control; 18-45 years, 3 months to 3 years postinjury). The measures were performed on all subjects for the longus capitis and colli and the sternocleidomastoid muscles.
The WAD subjects had significantly larger MFI and CSA for the anterior muscles compared to healthy control subjects (all P < 0.0001). In addition, the amount of MFI varied by both cervical level and muscle, with the longus capitis/colli having the largest amount of fatty infiltrates at the C2-C3 level (P < 0.0001). MFI was inversely related to age, self-reported pain/disability, and body mass index but directly proportional to duration of symptoms.
There is significantly greater MFI and CSA in the anterior neck muscles, especially in the deeper longus capitis/colli muscles, in subjects with chronic WAD when compared to healthy controls. Future studies are required to investigate the relationships between muscular morphometry and symptoms in patients suffering from acute and chronic WAD.
回顾性研究慢性挥鞭样损伤相关疾病（WAD）患者的肌肉变化。
定量比较慢性颈挥鞭伤（WAD）患者和健康对照组颈前肌群的肌肉改变（脂肪浸润[MFI]和横截面积[CSA]）的存在情况，并按肌肉和颈椎节段进行比较。
磁共振成像（MRI）可被视为肌肉成像的金标准。对于患有慢性 WAD 的患者的前颈部肌肉的体内特征以及肌肉结构如何因肌肉、椎体水平、年龄、自我报告的疼痛和残疾、体重指数和症状持续时间的因素而有所不同，我们知之甚少。
对 109 名女性患者（78 例 WAD，31 例健康对照组；18-45 岁，受伤后 3 个月至 3 年）双侧颈前肌肉进行了可靠的 MRI 测量，以测量 MFI 和 CSA。所有受试者均进行了头长肌和颈长肌以及胸锁乳突肌的测量。
与健康对照组相比，WAD 患者的前肌 MFI 和 CSA 显著更大（均 P < 0.0001）。此外，MFI 因颈椎水平和肌肉而异，头长肌/颈长肌在 C2-C3 水平的脂肪浸润量最大（P < 0.0001）。MFI 与年龄、自我报告的疼痛/残疾和体重指数呈负相关，但与症状持续时间呈正相关。
与健康对照组相比，慢性 WAD 患者的前颈肌，特别是深层头长肌/颈长肌的 MFI 和 CSA 显著更大。需要进一步的研究来调查患有急性和慢性 WAD 的患者的肌肉形态与症状之间的关系。
