title: Muscle ultrasound.
abstract: Muscle ultrasound is an ideal imaging modality that allows for noninvasive, radiation-free point-of-care neuromuscular imaging. There are many potential applications of muscle ultrasound, including identification of abnormal muscle movements such as fasciculations, evaluation of muscle trauma, identification of physiologic parameters such as pennation angle, accurate performance of chemodenervation, and improved accuracy of challenging electrodiagnostic studies such as phrenic nerve conduction studies or needle electromyogram (EMG) of the diaphragm. Tissue Doppler imaging can be used to help identify inflammatory myopathies. With computer-assisted quantification, muscle ultrasound has high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of pediatric neuromuscular disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and is a valuable addition to other diagnostic techniques for neuromuscular disease. When used as a first-line screening tool it can obviate the need for more invasive procedures such as EMG or muscle biopsy in certain patients. This chapter provides an overview of the fundamentals, clinical applications, and validation of muscle ultrasound for patients with neuromuscular disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sleep Medicine, Kempenhaeghe Expertise Center for Epileptology, Sleep Medicine and Neurocognition, Heeze, The Netherlands. Electronic address: sigridpillen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pillen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nens
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Alfen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009132:Muscles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: Doppler imaging; Heckmatt scale; congenital myopathy; dystrophy; echogenicity; fasciculations; motor neuron disease; muscle ultrasound; myositis; quantitative