title: Intramuscular blood flow quantification with power doppler ultrasonography.
abstract: Quantification of blood flow to muscle using ultrasound is limited to large vessels. Small vessel intramuscular blood flow cannot be quantified using ultrasound without specialized methods or intravenous contrast.
  
  
  
  We describe a technique using power Doppler to quantify postcontraction hyperemia in intramuscular vessels that can be used at the bedside.
  
  
  
  In 11 healthy subjects, postcontraction intramuscular blood flow in the forearm flexors and tibialis anterior muscles increased with stronger and repeated contractions. Intravascular blood flow measured by pulsed Doppler in the brachial artery similarly increased. Three patients with muscular dystrophies showed a negligible increase of postcontraction intramuscular blood flow.
  
  
  
  Intramuscular blood flow can be quantified using power Doppler ultrasonography; it increases following contraction and may be reduced in patients with muscular dystrophies. This quantitative, noninvasive technique can be applied at the bedside and may facilitate studies of disease impact on intramuscular blood flow. Muscle Nerve 54: 872-878, 2016.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Talpiot Medical Leadership Program, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, and Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, 52621. amir.dori@sheba.health.gov.il.|Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. amir.dori@sheba.health.gov.il.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dori
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Hiba
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Craig M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Zaidman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009136:Muscular Dystrophies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology*; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler
keywords: Doppler; blood flow; contraction; dystrophy; muscle; ultrasound