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Quantitative sonographic assessment of myotonia
Author(s) -
Abraham Alon,
Breiner Ari,
Barnett Carolina,
Bril Vera,
Katzberg Hans D.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.25714
Subject(s) - myotonia , myotonic dystrophy , medicine , quantitative assessment , neuromuscular disease , disease , risk analysis (engineering)
This study explores ultrasound imaging for qualitative and quantitative assessment of myotonia. Methods Sixteen patients with myotonia and 16 controls underwent sonographic evaluation of the thenar eminence muscles to assess the relaxation time after muscle percussion. Results The mean time for complete muscle relaxation in patients with myotonia was longer than that of controls. A cutoff of > 0.9 s for myotonia detection had a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 100%. The interrater reliability was moderate for qualitative assessment but was high for quantitative assessment. The relaxation time did not correlate with the number of trinucleotide repeats in patients with myotonic dystrophy. Discussion Sonographic evaluation for the presence of myotonia is feasible, sensitive, and specific but does not correlate with disease severity in myotonic dystrophy. Muscle Nerve 57 : 146–149, 2018