Ultrasonography of the Neck Splenius Capitis Muscle

Abstract

Purpose:

To evaluate the reproducibility of real-time ultrasonography as a method for measuring the size of the splenius capitis muscle (SPCM).

Material and Methods:

Ten right-handed women (non-athletes) aged 19–29 years were studied. Muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), anterior-posterior dimension (APD), and lateral dimension (LD) were measured bilaterally on 2 successive days, twice each day.

Results:

The coefficient of variation (CV) of CSA was 2.7% between times, and 3.0% between days. No significant correlations were found between muscle CSA and the anthropometric variables (neck girth, height, weight, fat percentage and body mass index). A significant correlation between CSA and the multiple of the 2 linear dimensions (MLD = LD×APD) was found (r=0.76, p=<0.01). CSA of SPCM was larger on the dominant side (p<0.05).

Conclusion:

The results suggest that real-time ultrasonography is a useful method for evaluating the size of the SPCM.

Keywords

Neck muscle,splenius capitis size,ultrasonography

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