Does Rest Time before Ultrasonography Imaging Affect Quadriceps Femoris Muscle Thickness, Cross-Sectional Area and Echo Intensity Measurements?

In the work described here, our aim was to determine, in an elderly population, changes in muscle thickness (MT), cross-sectional area (CSA) and echo intensity (EI) of the quadriceps muscles at four time points (0, 5, 10 and 15 min; i.e., T0, T5, T10 and T15, respectively) after changing from a standing to supine position. Twenty-one elderly participants (14 men: 68.1 ± 4.6 y; 8 women: 66.8 ± 4.1 y) were evaluated at four time points. Rectus femoris CSA (RFCSA), MT and EI of the quadriceps femoris (QF) muscles were assessed. EI significantly increased from T0 to T5, T10 and T15 (p < 0.001), whereas no differences were observed between T5 and T15 in the rectus femoris (RFEI), vastus intermedius (VIEI) and quadriceps femoris (QFEI). No differences were observed between any time points in the RFCSA and MT of QF muscles. In summary, these results suggest that periods >5 min are not necessary to obtain consistent MT and EI measurements of quadriceps femoris muscles in the elderly population.