title: Muscular Echovariation: A New Biomarker in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
abstract: The purpose of the work described here was to assess the characteristics of echovariation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) compared with other muscle ultrasonography parameters. Twenty-six ALS patients (8 women, mean age 58.9 y, standard deviation 12.02 y) and 26 healthy controls (17 women, mean age 59.6 y, standard deviation 6.41 y) were included in this observational study. They underwent bilateral and transverse ultrasound of the biceps/brachialis, forearm flexor group, quadriceps femoris and tibialis anterior. Muscular thickness, echo-intensity and echovariation were analyzed. Muscles affected by ALS had increased echo-intensity, decreased thickness and decreased echovariation. Echovariation in all muscles except the quadriceps femoris strongly correlated with muscle strength (explained variance between 21.8% in the biceps/brachialis and 37.5% in the tibialis anterior) and the ALS Functional Rating Scale Revised score (explained variance between 26% in the biceps/brachialis and 36.7% in the forearm flexor group). Echovariation is an easy-to-obtain quantitative muscle ultrasonography parameter that could distinguish ALS patients from healthy controls more accurately than previous described biomarkers.
authors.affiliation: ECOFISTEM Research Group, Health Sciences Department, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe, Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: jmartinez@ucam.edu.
authors.forename: Jacinto J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Martínez-Payá
authors.affiliation: ECOFISTEM Research Group, Health Sciences Department, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: María Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Del Baño-Aledo
authors.affiliation: ECOFISTEM Research Group, Health Sciences Department, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe, Murcia, Spain; Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud San Rafael-Nebrija, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ríos-Díaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: José I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Tembl-Ferrairó
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, Spain; Neuromuscular and Ataxias Research Unit, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria la Fe (IIS La Fe), Valencia, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Vázquez-Costa
authors.affiliation: Physiotherapy Department, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Medina-Mirapeix
mesh_terms: D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D015415:Biomarkers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Clinical neurology examination; Observational study; Ultrasound