title: Application of ultrasonography in the assessment of skeletal muscles in children with and without neuromuscular disorders: a systematic review.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to systematically review published studies (2000-2014) carried out on the application of ultrasonography (US) to evaluation of skeletal muscle size in children with and without neuromuscular disorders. Different databases including PubMed, Science Direct, OVID, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, ProQuest and Google Scholar were searched. The key words used were: "children," "ultrasound," "skeletal muscles," "neuromuscular disease," "neurogenic disorders," "spina bifida," "myelomeningocele" and "reliability." Eighteen articles were found to be relevant. Eight studies applied US in combination with additional methods of assessment. Four of the 18 studies did not have a control group. Ten studies applied only US in the assessment of skeletal muscles in children with and without neuromuscular diseases. In 9 studies, there were children ranging widely in age, and in 3 studies US was used to determine normal values for skeletal muscles. According to the results of these 18 reviewed articles, US is an appropriate, reliable and highly predictive method for assessment of skeletal muscles in children.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Neurorehabilitation Research Center, Evin, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nahid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rahmani
authors.affiliation: Iranian Research Centre on Aging, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Evin, Tehran, Iran, and Visiting Professor, University Institute of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan. Electronic address: Mohseni_bandpei@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mohseni-Bandpei
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Pediatric Neurorehabilitation Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Roshanak
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vameghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahyar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salavati
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Iraj
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Abdollahi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014600:Utilization Review
keywords: Children; Myelomeningocele; Neuromuscular disease; Reliability; Review; Skeletal muscles; Spina bifida; Systematic; Ultrasound