Ultrasonography of the neck splenius capitis muscle. Investigation in a group of young healthy women.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the reproducibility of real-time ultrasonography as a method for measuring the size of the splenius capitis muscle (SPCM).


METHODS
Ten right-handed women (non-athletes) aged 19-29 years were studied. Muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), anterior-posterior dimension (APD), and lateral dimension (LD) were measured bilaterally on 2 successive days, twice each day.


RESULTS
The coefficient of variation (CV) of CSA was 2.7% between times, and 3.0% between days. No significant correlations were found between muscle CSA and the anthropometric variables (neck girth, height, weight, fat percentage and body mass index). A significant correlation between CSA and the multiple of the 2 linear dimensions (MLD = LD x APD) was found (r = 0.76, p = < 0.01). CSA of SPCM was larger on the dominant side (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that real-time ultrasonography is a useful method for evaluating the size of the SPCM.
Soltani
A R
AR
LIKES, Research Center for Sport and Health Sciences, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Kallinen
M
M
Mälkiä
E
E
Vihko
V
V
D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014463:Ultrasonography