ULTRASONOGRAPHY OF THE NECK SPLENIUS CAPITIS MUSCLE - INVESTIGATION IN A GROUP OF YOUNG HEALTHY WOMEN

Purpose: To evaluate the reproducibility of real-time ultrasonography as a method for measuring the size of the splenius capitis muscle (SPC M). Material and Methods: Ten right-handed women (non athletes) aged 1 9-29 years were studied. Muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), anterior-p osterior dimension (APD), and lateral dimension (LD) were measured bil aterally on 2 successive days, twice each day. Results: The coefficien t of variation (CV) of CSA was 2.7% between times, and 3.0% between da ys. No significant correlations were found between muscle CSA and the anthropometric variables (neck girth, height, weight, fat percentage a nd body mass index). A significant correlation between CSA and the mul tiple of the 2 linear dimensions (MLD=LDxAPD) 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.