Visual assessment of segmental muscle ultrasound images in spina bifida aperta.

Abstract

In spina bifida aperta (SBA), spinal MRI provides a surrogate marker to estimate muscle damage caudal to the myelomeningocele (MMC). This muscle damage by the MMC can be quantified by intra-individual comparison of muscle ultrasound density (MUD) caudal versus cranial to the MMC (dMUD = [MUD(caudal-to-the-MMC)] - [MUD(cranial-to-the-MMC)]). Quantitative dMUD assessment requires time, equipment and expertise, whereas it could also be visually determined by differences in muscle echodensity caudal vs. cranial to the MMC (visual-dMUD). If visual and quantitative dMUD correspond, visual dMUD assessment could provide a clinical screening parameter. In 100 SBA muscle ultrasound recordings of patients with various MMC levels, we aimed to compare quantitative dMUD (dMUD = [MUD(calf-muscle/S1)] - [MUD(quadriceps-muscle/L2-L4)]) with visual dMUD assessments by 20 different observers. Results indicate that quantitative dMUD can be visually detected (sensitivity 86%; specificity 57%), implicating that visual dMUD screening could provide a quick, clinical screening tool for muscle impairment by the MMC.

• Authors: Rick Brandsma, Renate J Verbeek, Natasha M Maurits, Janneke T Hamminga, Oebele F Brouwer, Johannes H van der Hoeven, Huibert Burger, Deborah A Sival
• Journal: Ultrasound in medicine & biology (Ultrasound Med Biol) Vol. 38 Issue 8 Pg. 1339-44 (Aug 2012) ISSN: 1879-291X [Electronic] England
• PMID: 22698513 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2012 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Female
• Humans
• Infant
• Infant, Newborn
• Male
• Muscle, Skeletal (diagnostic imaging)
• Muscular Diseases (diagnostic imaging, etiology)
• Observer Variation
• Reproducibility of Results
• Sensitivity and Specificity
• Spina Bifida Cystica (complications, diagnostic imaging)
• Ultrasonography