title: Quadriceps muscle strength and voluntary activation after polio.
abstract: Quadriceps strength, maximal anatomical cross-sectional area (CSA), maximal voluntary activation (MVA), and maximal relaxation rate (MRR) were studied in 48 subjects with a past history of polio, 26 with and 22 without postpoliomyelitis syndrome (PPS), and in 13 control subjects. It was also investigated whether, apart from CSA, MVA and MRR were determinants of muscle strength. Polio subjects had significantly less strength, CSA, and MRR in the more-affected quadriceps than control subjects. MVA was reduced in 18 polio subjects and normal in all controls. PPS subjects differed from non-PPS subjects only in that the MVA of the more-affected quadriceps was significantly lower. Both CSA and MVA were found to be associated with muscle strength. Quadriceps strength in polio subjects was dependent not only on muscle mass, but also on the ability to activate the muscles. Since impaired activation was more pronounced in PPS subjects, the new muscle weakness and functional decline in PPS may be due not only to a gradual loss of muscle fibers, but also to an increasing inability to activate the muscles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. j.a.beelen@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beelen
authors.forename: Frans
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nollet
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Visser
authors.forename: Bareld A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: Gustaaf J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Lankhorst
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Sargeant
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000503:physiopathology; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011051:Poliomyelitis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016262:Postpoliomyelitis Syndrome / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012044:Regression Analysis