Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Foot Ankle Surg. 2011 Sep;17(3):145-9. doi: 10.1016/j.fas.2010.04.002. Epub 2010 Jun 7.
Ultrasound is a non-invasive method to quantitatively measure various muscle parameters. Purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of ultrasound of lower leg and foot muscles and to obtain reference values for muscle thickness (MT) and echo intensity (EI).
Ultrasound measurements of leg and foot muscles were performed in 60 healthy adults. MT and EI were quantitatively determined for the abductor hallucis (AH), extensor digitorum brevis (EDB), extensor hallucis longus (EHL) and peroneus longus (PER) muscles. Influence of age, height, weight and sex was determined using a multiple linear regression analysis.
All muscles except the AH could easily be visualized with ultrasound. EI tended to be increased above 60 years and MT was significantly higher in men compared to women, necessitating age- and sex-dependent reference values.
This study shows that muscle ultrasound is capable of visualizing lower leg and foot muscles and reference values for MT and EI can be obtained. Future research will focus on the use of these reference values to evaluate muscle abnormalities caused by neuromuscular disorders like hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy.
超声是一种定量测量各种肌肉参数的非侵入性方法。本研究的目的是评估小腿和足部肌肉超声的可行性，并获得肌肉厚度（MT）和回声强度（EI）的参考值。
对 60 名健康成年人进行了腿部和足部肌肉的超声测量。定量测定了拇展肌（AH）、趾短伸肌（EDB）、拇长伸肌（EHL）和腓骨长肌（PER）的 MT 和 EI。使用多元线性回归分析确定年龄、身高、体重和性别对其的影响。
除 AH 外，所有肌肉均可通过超声轻松显示。EI 倾向于在 60 岁以上增加，而 MT 在男性中明显高于女性，因此需要依赖年龄和性别获得参考值。
本研究表明，肌肉超声能够可视化小腿和足部肌肉，并可获得 MT 和 EI 的参考值。未来的研究将集中于利用这些参考值来评估遗传性运动感觉神经病等神经肌肉疾病引起的肌肉异常。
