title: Quantitative Muscle Ultrasonography in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the reliability of quantitative muscle ultrasonography (US) in healthy subjects and to evaluate the correlation between quantitative muscle US findings and electrodiagnostic study results in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The clinical significance of quantitative muscle US in CTS was also assessed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty patients with CTS and 20 age-matched healthy volunteers were recruited. All control and CTS subjects underwent a bilateral median and ulnar nerve conduction study (NCS) and quantitative muscle US. Transverse US images of the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) were obtained to measure muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), thickness, and echo intensity (EI). EI was determined using computer-assisted, grayscale analysis. Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability for quantitative muscle US in control subjects, and differences in muscle thickness, CSA, and EI between the CTS patient and control groups were analyzed. Relationships between quantitative US parameters and electrodiagnostic study results were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Quantitative muscle US had high inter-rater and intra-rater reliability in the control group. Muscle thickness and CSA were significantly decreased, and EI was significantly increased in the APB of the CTS group (all p<0.05). EI demonstrated a significant positive correlation with latency of the median motor and sensory NCS in CTS patients (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that quantitative muscle US parameters may be useful for detecting muscle changes in CTS. Further study involving patients with other neuromuscular diseases is needed to evaluate peripheral muscle change using quantitative muscle US.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyewon
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3105-4071
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Sungju
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9400-9609
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jee
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo Ho
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1815-5196
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Chan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2295-6233
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Juneho
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2296-7832
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Im
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Min Kyun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2548-545X
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Sohn
keywords: Carpal tunnel syndrome; Echo intensity; Electrodiagnostic study; Peripheral neuropathy; Quantitative muscle ultrasonography