Thigh muscle volume measured by magnetic resonance imaging is stable over a 6-month interval in spinal muscular atrophy

J Child Neurol. 2011 Oct;26(10):1252-9. doi: 10.1177/0883073811405053. Epub 2011 May 13.

Abstract

Changes in thigh muscle volume over 6 months were assessed using magnetic resonance imaging in 11 subjects aged 6 to 47 years with spinal muscular atrophy (4 type 2 and 7 type 3; 4 ambulatory and 3 nonambulatory). Muscle volume with normal and abnormal signal was measured using blinded, semiautomated analysis of reconstructed data. Volumes at baseline and 6 months were correlated with clinical function at each epoch. There was minimal increase in normal (0.3 ± 1.4 mL/cm) and total (0.1 ± 1.3 mL/cm) muscle. Muscle volume correlated closely with clinical function. Minimal interval change in muscle volume is consistent with the established clinical history of minimal disease progression over intervals shorter than 1 year. Relative constancy of muscle volume estimation and correlation with established functional measures suggest a role for segmental magnetic resonance imaging as a biomarker of treatment effect in future therapeutic trials.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anthropometry
  • Child
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Muscle, Skeletal / pathology*
  • Muscular Atrophy, Spinal / classification
  • Muscular Atrophy, Spinal / diagnosis*
  • Muscular Atrophy, Spinal / physiopathology
  • Neurologic Examination
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Thigh / pathology*
  • Young Adult