Lower extremity muscle structure in incomplete spinal cord injury: a comparison between ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Abstract

Ultrasound (US) measures of muscle thickness are used in the management and monitoring of muscle changes during rehabilitation, but it is unknown how this measure compares to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Six participants with incomplete SCI underwent US imaging and MRI of their gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles. Significant correlations were found between US muscle thickness and MRI CSA in the gastrocnemius (R=0.91, P<0.001), and TA muscles (R=0.58, P<0.05). US muscle thickness in the gastrocnemius and TA of patients with incomplete SCI may be used as a cheaper alternative measure of CSA as measured using MRI, and this measure may be clinically useful to track progress in muscle gains during rehabilitation.