Convergent Validity and Test-Retest Reliability of Multimodal Ultrasonography and Related Clinical Measures in People With Chronic Stroke

Unilateral alterations in muscle structure,1 composition,2,3 viscoelastic characteristics,3 and microvasculature4 are evident during chronic stages of stroke recovery. Changes to paretic muscle tissue after stroke are mechanistically complex and often inconsistent with alterations typically resulting from disuse, overstimulation, or aging alone5,6. Ultrasonography provides a clear diagnostic advantage for objectively measuring muscle changes in real time.7 While commonly used assessments and scales (eg, Modified Ashworth, Tardieu) provide a clinical gradation of neuromuscular dysfunction (ie, degree of spasticity, resistance to passive extensibility, etc), these are ultimately anchoring approaches with their own inherent limitations (eg, no standardization of stretch velocity during manual testing, relative quantification of resistance, subjective scoring)8 and are insufficient for evaluating morphologic alterations in paretic relative to nonparetic muscles.
Source: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation - Category: Rehabilitation Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL RESEARCH Source Type: research