The effect of ageing on shear wave elastography muscle stiffness in adults.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Skeletal muscle undergoes structural changes with ageing which may alter its biomechanical properties. Shear wave elastography (SWE) may detect these changes by measuring muscle stiffness.

Aims

To investigate muscle stiffness in healthy young, middle-aged and elderly cohorts using SWE and correlate it with muscle strength and mass.

Methods

Shear wave velocity (SWV) was measured in the quadriceps, hamstrings and biceps brachii of 26 young (range 20-35 years), 21 middle-aged (40-55) and 30 elderly (77-94) volunteers. The participants performed several muscle tests to evaluate their strength. The One-way ANOVA was used to test the muscle stiffness differences between the groups and the Pearson's correlation coefficient to evaluate the relationship between SWV and muscle strength.

Results

The overall resting muscle SWV gradually decreased with age but was only significantly reduced in the elderly group (p?ConclusionsAgeing was associated with a decline in skeletal muscle stiffness which positively correlates with muscle weakness. Further research is needed to evaluate the promising role of SWE as a biomarker for sarcopenia assessment and potential falls risk prediction in elderly individuals.

SUBMITTER: Alfuraih AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6825644 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature