Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Villanueva de La Cañada, Madrid, Spain; International Doctoral School, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Spain.
Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Spain; Cátedra Institucional en Docencia, Clínica e Investigación en Fisioterapia: Terapia Manual, Punción Seca y Ejercicio Terapéutico, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain.
Musculoskelet Sci Pract. 2021 Jun;53:102335. doi: 10.1016/j.msksp.2021.102335. Epub 2021 Jan 23.
In addition to muscle morphology, ultrasound imaging (US) could be a potential tool to determine muscle quality assessing the echo-intensity and using offline software to quantify the percentage of intramuscular fatty infiltration.
To investigate intra- and inter-rater image measurement reliability of morphological (i.e., cross-sectional area, perimeter) and echo intensity features (i.e., mean muscular echo intensity, fat echo intensity cut-offs, fatty infiltrates percentage estimation) of deep neck extensors in asymptomatic subjects.
Brightness-mode images of the cervical spine at C4/C5 were acquired in 25 asymptomatic subjects (40%women, age: 24 years) by an experienced examiner. Cross-sectional area, perimeter and echo-intensity measures of cervical multifidus and short rotators were measured on two separate days (one-week apart) in a randomized order by two assessors. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of measurement, minimal detectable change, and mean, absolute and percent errors were calculated.
Intra- (ICC 0.800-0.989) and inter- (ICC 0.841-0.948) examiner reliability of echo-intensity measures ranged from good to excellent. Women exhibited higher echo-intensity features than men. Intra-examiner reliability of morphological measures was excellent (ICC 0.917-0.974) for multifidus and good-excellent (ICC 0.868-0.987) for short rotators. Inter-examiner reliability of morphological measures also ranged from good to excellent (ICC 0.765-0.965). Men exhibited higher CSA and perimeter than women. No side-to-side differences were observed in any ultrasound measure.
This study found that intra- and inter-rater image analysis reliability of muscle morphology, mean echo intensity, and fatty infiltration quantification of cervical multifidus and short rotators at C4/C5 level was good-to-excellent in healthy subjects.
除肌肉形态外，超声成像（US）可能是一种潜在的工具，可通过测量回声强度并使用离线软件来量化肌肉内脂肪浸润的百分比，从而评估肌肉质量。
旨在研究在无症状受试者中，使用形态学（即横截面积、周长）和回声强度特征（即肌肉平均回声强度、脂肪回声强度界限、脂肪浸润百分比估计值）评估颈椎伸肌的内部和外部图像测量可靠性。
由一名经验丰富的检查者对 25 名无症状受试者（40%为女性，年龄：24 岁）的 C4/C5 颈椎进行亮度模式成像。两名评估员以随机顺序分别在两天（相隔一周）对颈椎多裂肌和短旋转肌的横截面积、周长和回声强度进行测量。计算了组内相关系数（ICC）、测量误差、最小可检测变化、平均值、绝对误差和百分比误差。
回声强度测量的内部（ICC 0.800-0.989）和外部（ICC 0.841-0.948）检查者可靠性从良好到优秀。女性的回声强度特征高于男性。多裂肌的形态学测量的内部检查者可靠性为优秀（ICC 0.917-0.974），短旋转肌为良好-优秀（ICC 0.868-0.987）。形态学测量的外部检查者可靠性也从良好到优秀（ICC 0.765-0.965）。男性的 CSA 和周长均高于女性。任何超声测量均未观察到侧别差异。
本研究发现，在健康受试者中，C4/C5 水平颈椎多裂肌和短旋转肌的肌肉形态、平均回声强度和脂肪浸润量化的内部和外部图像分析可靠性为良好到优秀。
