AUTHOR=Högelin Emil Rydell , Thulin Kajsa , von Walden Ferdinand , Fornander Lotta , Michno Piotr , Alkner Björn
TITLE=Reliability and Validity of an Ultrasound-Based Protocol for Measurement of Quadriceps Muscle Thickness in Children
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology
VOLUME=13
YEAR=2022
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.830216
DOI=10.3389/fphys.2022.830216
ISSN=1664-042X
ABSTRACT=Introduction and aims: Accurate determination of skeletal muscle size is of great importance in multiple settings including resistance exercise, aging, disease, and disuse. Ultrasound (US) measurement of muscle thickness (MT) is a method of relatively high availability and low cost. The present study aims to evaluate a multisite ultrasonographic protocol for measurement of MT with respect to reproducibility and correlation to gold-standard measurements of muscle volume (MV) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in children.
Material and methods: 15 children completed the study (11 ± 1 year, 41 ± 8 kg, 137 ± 35 cm). Following 20 min supine rest, two investigators performed US MT measurements of all four heads of the m. quadriceps femoris, at pre-determined sites. Subsequently, MRI scanning was performed and MV was estimated by manual contouring of individual muscle heads.
Results: Ultrasound measurement of MT had an intra-rater reliability of ICC = 0.985–0.998 (CI 95% = 0.972–0.998) and inter-rater reliability of ICC = 0.868–0.964 (CI 95% = 0.637–0.983). The US examinations took less than 15 min, per investigator. Muscle thickness of all individual quadriceps muscles correlated significantly with their corresponding MV as measured by MRI (overall r = 0.789, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that US measurement of MT using a multisite protocol is a competitive alternative to MRI scanning, especially with respect to availability and time consumption. Therefore, US MT could allow for wider clinical and scientific implementation.