Quantitative ultrasound of the tongue and submental muscles in children and young adults.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of quantitative muscle ultrasound (QMUS) to visualize oral muscles and to establish normative data for muscle thickness and echo intensity of submental and tongue muscles in healthy children and young adults. The data were compared with those of 5 patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Methods: Ultrasound images from the suprahyoid region and from the surface of the tongue were made in 53 healthy subjects aged 5 to 30 years.

Results: All measurements were feasible in all subjects and patients with good reproducibility except for the mylohyoid muscle. Muscle thickness depended on height, and echo intensity depended on weight. Our findings suggest gradual involvement of oral muscles in DMD.

Conclusions: QMUS in oral muscles is feasible in healthy children, adults and patients with DMD. These data show that it is possible to differentiate between healthy persons and patients with DMD.