Quantitative Muscle Ultrasonography in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
10.5535/arm.2016.40.6.1048
- Author:
Hyewon LEE
1
;
Sungju JEE
;
Soo Ho PARK
;
Seung Chan AHN
;
Juneho IM
;
Min Kyun SOHN
Author Information
1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea. mksohn@cnuh.co.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Carpal tunnel syndrome;
Quantitative muscle ultrasonography;
Electrodiagnostic study;
Echo intensity;
Peripheral neuropathy
- MeSH:
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome*;
Healthy Volunteers;
Humans;
Neuromuscular Diseases;
Peripheral Nervous System Diseases;
Ulnar Nerve;
Ultrasonography*
- From:Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine
2016;40(6):1048-1056
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: To assess the reliability of quantitative muscle ultrasonography (US) in healthy subjects and to evaluate the correlation between quantitative muscle US findings and electrodiagnostic study results in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The clinical significance of quantitative muscle US in CTS was also assessed. METHODS: Twenty patients with CTS and 20 age-matched healthy volunteers were recruited. All control and CTS subjects underwent a bilateral median and ulnar nerve conduction study (NCS) and quantitative muscle US. Transverse US images of the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) were obtained to measure muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), thickness, and echo intensity (EI). EI was determined using computer-assisted, grayscale analysis. Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability for quantitative muscle US in control subjects, and differences in muscle thickness, CSA, and EI between the CTS patient and control groups were analyzed. Relationships between quantitative US parameters and electrodiagnostic study results were evaluated. RESULTS: Quantitative muscle US had high inter-rater and intra-rater reliability in the control group. Muscle thickness and CSA were significantly decreased, and EI was significantly increased in the APB of the CTS group (all p<0.05). EI demonstrated a significant positive correlation with latency of the median motor and sensory NCS in CTS patients (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that quantitative muscle US parameters may be useful for detecting muscle changes in CTS. Further study involving patients with other neuromuscular diseases is needed to evaluate peripheral muscle change using quantitative muscle US.
