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BMC Surgery Aug 2016Symptoms arising from giant ventral hernia have been considered to be related to weakening of the abdominal muscles. The aim of this study was to investigate the... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
Symptoms arising from giant ventral hernia have been considered to be related to weakening of the abdominal muscles. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the area of the abdominal wall defect and abdominal wall muscle strength measured by the validated BioDex system together with a back/abdominal unit.
METHODS
Fifty-two patients with giant ventral hernia (>10 cm wide) underwent CT scan, clinical measurement of hernia size and BioDex measurement of muscle strength prior to surgery. The areas of the hernia derived from CT scan and from clinical measurement were compared with BioDex forces in the modalities extension, flexion and isometric contraction. The Spearman rank test was used to calculate correlations between area, BMI, gender, age, and muscle strength.
RESULT
The hernia area calculated from clinical measurements correlated to abdominal muscle strength measured with the Biodex for all modalities (p-values 0.015-0.036), whereas no correlation was seen with the area calculated by CT scan. No relationship was seen between BMI, gender, age and the area of the hernia.
DISCUSSION
The inverse correlation between BioDex abdominal muscle strength and clinically assessed hernia area, seen in all modalities, was so robust that it seems safe to conclude that the area of the hernia is an important determinant of the degree of loss of abdominal muscle strength. Results using hernia area calculated from the CT scan showed no such correlation and this would seem to concur with the results from a previous study by our group on patients with abdominal rectus diastasis. In that study, defect size assessed clinically, but not that measured by CT scan, was in agreement with the size of the diastasis measured intra-operatively. The point at which the area of a hernia begins to correlate with loss of abdominal wall muscle strength remains unknown since this study only included giant ventral hernias.
Topics: Abdominal Muscles; Abdominal Wall; Adult; Aged; Female; Hernia, Ventral; Herniorrhaphy; Humans; Isometric Contraction; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle Strength; Tomography, X-Ray Computed
PubMed: 27484911
DOI: 10.1186/s12893-016-0166-x -
Medicine and Science in Sports and... Jul 2018Skeletal muscle is the largest regulator of glucose metabolism, but few population-based studies have examined the associations between muscle and inflammation. We...
PURPOSE
Skeletal muscle is the largest regulator of glucose metabolism, but few population-based studies have examined the associations between muscle and inflammation. We studied the relationships between abdominal muscle area and density with selected adiposity-associated inflammatory mediators.
METHODS
Nearly 2000 subjects underwent computed tomography of the abdomen and had venous fasting blood drawn concomitantly. The computed tomography scans were interrogated for visceral and subcutaneous fat, as well as abdominal lean muscle areas and densities. We then categorized the muscle into locomotion (psoas) and stabilization (rectus, obliques, and paraspinal) groups. Blood samples were assayed for interleukin-6 (IL-6), resistin, C-reactive protein, and TNF-α.
RESULTS
The mean age was 64.7 yr, and 49% were female. Forty percent were white, 26% Hispanic/Latino American, 21% African American, and 13% Chinese American. The mean body mass index was 28.0 kg·m, and 30% were obese (body mass index, >30 kg·m). Using multivariable linear regression models that included adjustment for abdominal muscle area, a 1-SD increment in the mean densities for total, stabilization, and locomotive abdominal muscle were each significantly associated with lower levels of IL-6 (β = -15%, -15%, and -9%, P < 0.01 for all) and resistin (β = -0.11, -0.11, and -0.07 ng·mL, P < 0.02 for all), but not C-reactive protein or TNF-α. Conversely, muscle area was not independently associated with any of the inflammatory mediators studied.
CONCLUSIONS
Higher densities of several muscle groups in the abdomen are significantly associated with lower IL-6 and resistin levels, independent of the muscle area in these groups. Techniques that enhance muscle density may reduce levels of adiposity-associated inflammatory mediators.
Topics: Abdominal Muscles; Adiposity; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; C-Reactive Protein; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Inflammation Mediators; Interleukin-6; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Resistin; Subcutaneous Fat; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; United States
PubMed: 29401141
DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001570 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2023We aimed to assess the effects of interaction between several breathing patterns and postures on abdominal muscle activation and intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). This...
We aimed to assess the effects of interaction between several breathing patterns and postures on abdominal muscle activation and intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). This comparative cross-sectional study enrolled fourteen healthy university students majoring in sports science and/or physical education. They performed four active breathing tasks: quiet nasal breathing (Q-Bre), nasal deep breathing (Deep-Bre), completely forced expiration (Forced-Expi), and exertional nasal inhalation with abdominal muscles with isometric contraction (Exertion-Inspi) in the elbow-toe plank and supine postures. Breathing volume; IAP; and transverse abdominis-internal oblique muscle (TrA-IO) and external oblique muscle (EO) activities were recorded. Abdominal muscle activity and IAP significantly interacted with breathing pattern and postures during the expiratory phase (p < 0.05). In the inspiratory phase, TrA-IO activity was significantly affected by breathing pattern and EO activity with posture (p < 0.05). TrA-IO activity significantly increased during Forced-Expi in the supine posture (47.6% of the maximum voluntary contraction) and Exertion-Inspi in the elbow-toe posture (35.7%), whereas no differences were found during Deep-Bre or Q-Bre (< 20%). EO activity increased in the elbow-toe posture (22.5-30.6%) compared with that in the supine posture (< 5%) during all breathing tasks. IAP values were low during all tasks (< 15%) except for Forced-Expi (24.9%). Abdominal muscle activation and IAP interacted with the breathing pattern and posture.
Topics: Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Electromyography; Abdominal Muscles; Posture; Respiration; Muscle Contraction
PubMed: 37443166
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37629-5 -
Medicine May 2019The aim of the study was to introduce our in-house software to measure the muscle and adipose area on axial computed tomography (CT) scans and to compare with various... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
The aim of the study was to introduce our in-house software to measure the muscle and adipose area on axial computed tomography (CT) scans and to compare with various quantification methods.Our institutional review board approved this retrospective study and informed consent was waived. We developed in-house software to identify body composition analysis on CT scan, which semiautomatically operates 3 image processing steps. Abdominal images were obtained using multidetector row CT (MDCT). Two radiologists analyzed the same cross-sectional areas of subcutaneous fat, muscle, and visceral fat using the following techniques: manual measurements, Aquarius, ImageJ, and our newly developed software. We calculated an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for comparison of muscle and fat areas quantified by various measurement methods using a 2-way random model. Interobserver agreement between the radiologists was also evaluated.Agreements in the measurement of subcutaneous fat and muscle areas were excellent among the methods (ICC = 0.962 and 0.897, respectively), and that of the visceral fat area was good (ICC = 0.822). In the subgroup analysis, ICC of the visceral fat area in the female group and in subjects with ascites was slightly lower than the other group (ICC = 0.742 and 0.787, respectively). The correlation coefficients between our software and other methods were relatively high (r = 0.854-0.996). Additionally, ICCs between both observers of our program for quantification of subcutaneous fat, muscle, and visceral fat areas were 0.999, 0.980, and 0.999, respectively.In conclusion, our method showed be reliable in quantifying muscle and adipose tissue using cross-sectional areas of MDCT with high reproducibility.
Topics: Abdominal Fat; Abdominal Muscles; Adipose Tissue; Adult; Aged; Female; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Intra-Abdominal Fat; Male; Middle Aged; Multidetector Computed Tomography; Observer Variation; Reproducibility of Results; Retrospective Studies; Software; Statistics, Nonparametric; Subcutaneous Fat
PubMed: 31145342
DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000015867 -
Archivos Argentinos de Pediatria Oct 2016Respiratory muscle training is the most commonly used method to revert respiratory muscle weakness; however, the effect of protocols based on non-respiratory maneuvers...
INTRODUCTION
Respiratory muscle training is the most commonly used method to revert respiratory muscle weakness; however, the effect of protocols based on non-respiratory maneuvers has not been adequately studied in the pediatric population. The objective of this study was to establish the effect of abdominal muscle training on respiratory muscle strength and forced expiratory flows in healthy adolescents.
METHODS
This was a quasi-experiment. The sample was made up of healthy adolescents divided into two groups: an experimental group who completed eight weeks of active abdominal muscle training, and an equivalent control group. The following indicators were measured: abdominal muscle strength, maximal inspiratory pressure, maximal expiratory pressure (MEP), peak expiratory flow, and peak cough flow, before and after protocol completion. A value of p < 0.05 was considered significant.
RESULTS
All studied outcome measures increased significantly in the experimental group but only MEP increased in the control group. In addition, a higher MEP was observed in the experimental group compared to the control group at the end of the protocol, together with a greater increase in MEP and peak expiratory flow. Finally, the increase in MEP was associated with an increase in cough peak flow in the experimental group but not in the control group.
CONCLUSION
After eight weeks of abdominal muscle training, MEP and peak expiratory flow increased in healthy (sedentary) adolescents. Such effects were associated with intervention-induced increases in cough peak flow.
Topics: Abdominal Muscles; Adolescent; Exercise; Female; Forced Expiratory Flow Rates; Humans; Male; Muscle Strength; Respiratory Muscles; Sedentary Behavior
PubMed: 27606641
DOI: 10.5546/aap.2016.eng.434 -
European Journal of Applied Physiology Jan 2021Abdominal hollowing exercise has been recommended to improve trunk stability. Trunk lean and foot lift exercises while sitting may easily promote abdominal muscle...
PURPOSE
Abdominal hollowing exercise has been recommended to improve trunk stability. Trunk lean and foot lift exercises while sitting may easily promote abdominal muscle activity even in people who cannot perform abdominal hollowing consciously. The purpose of the present study was to examine the changes in abdominal muscle activity and contribution rate of the transversus abdominis muscle (TrA) when leaning the trunk and lifting the foot during sitting.
METHODS
The muscle stiffnesses (indicators of muscle activity) of the right rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, and TrA of 14 healthy men were measured during abdominal hollowing and the following nine sitting tasks: reference posture, 15° and maximal posterior trunk lean, 20° and maximal ipsilateral and contralateral trunk lean, and ipsilateral and contralateral foot lift. The TrA contribution rate was calculated by dividing the TrA stiffness by the sum of the abdominal muscles' stiffnesses.
RESULTS
The TrA stiffness was significantly higher in abdominal hollowing than in reference posture, posterior and ipsilateral trunk lean, and ipsilateral foot lift, but not higher than in contralateral trunk lean and contralateral foot lift. There was no significant difference in the TrA contribution rates between abdominal hollowing and ipsilateral or contralateral foot lift.
CONCLUSION
The contralateral trunk lean or contralateral foot lift could enhance TrA activity for people who cannot perform abdominal hollowing consciously. The contralateral foot lift could particularly be beneficial to obtain selective activity of TrA.
Topics: Abdominal Muscles; Adult; Exercise; Foot; Humans; Male; Muscle Contraction; Sitting Position; Torso
PubMed: 32997259
DOI: 10.1007/s00421-020-04508-0 -
Medical Physics May 2022Skeletal muscle segmentation is an important procedure for assessing sarcopenia, an emerging imaging biomarker of patient frailty. Data annotation remains the bottleneck...
BACKGROUND
Skeletal muscle segmentation is an important procedure for assessing sarcopenia, an emerging imaging biomarker of patient frailty. Data annotation remains the bottleneck for training deep learning auto-segmentation models.
PURPOSE
There is a need to define methodologies for applying models to different domains (e.g., anatomical regions or imaging modalities) without dramatically increasing data annotation.
METHODS
To address this problem, we empirically evaluate the generalizability of various source tasks for transfer learning: natural image classification, natural image segmentation, unsupervised image reconstruction, and self-supervised jigsaw solving. Axial CT slices at L3 were extracted from PET-CT scans for 204 oesophago-gastric cancer patients and the skeletal muscle manually delineated by an expert. Features were transferred and segmentation models trained on subsets ( ) of the manually annotated training set. Four-fold cross-validation was performed to evaluate model generalizability. Human-level performance was established by performing an inter-observer study consisting of ten trained radiographers.
RESULTS
We find that accurate segmentation models can be trained on a fraction of the data required by current approaches. The Dice similarity coefficient and root mean square distance-to-agreement were calculated for each prediction and used to assess model performance. Models pre-trained on a segmentation task and fine-tuned on 10 images produce delineations that are comparable to those from trained observers and extract reliable measures of muscle health.
CONCLUSIONS
Appropriate transfer learning can generate convolutional neural networks for abdominal muscle segmentation that achieve human-level performance while decreasing the required data by an order of magnitude, compared to previous methods ( ). This work enables the development of future models for assessing skeletal muscle at other anatomical sites where large annotated data sets are scarce and clinical needs are yet to be addressed.
Topics: Abdominal Muscles; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Machine Learning; Neural Networks, Computer; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography
PubMed: 35170063
DOI: 10.1002/mp.15533 -
Journal of Anatomy Aug 2008The symmetry of, and physical characteristics influencing, the thickness of the lateral abdominal muscles at rest and during abdominal exercises were examined in 57...
The symmetry of, and physical characteristics influencing, the thickness of the lateral abdominal muscles at rest and during abdominal exercises were examined in 57 healthy subjects (20 men, 37 women; aged 22-62 years). M-mode ultrasound images were recorded from the abdominal muscles at rest and during abdominal hollowing exercises in hook-lying. The fascial lines bordering the transvs. abdominis, obliquus internus and obliquus externus were digitized and the absolute thickness, relative thickness (% of total lateral thickness) and contraction ratio (thickness during hollowing/thickness at rest), as well as the asymmetry (difference between sides expressed as a percent of the smallest value for the two sides) for each of these parameters were determined for each muscle. Both at rest and during hollowing, obliquus internus was the thickest and transvs. abdominis the thinnest muscle. There were no significant differences between left and right sides for group mean thicknesses of any muscle; however, individual asymmetries were evident, with mean values for the different muscles ranging from 11% to 26%; asymmetry was much less for the contraction ratios (mean % side differences, 5-14% depending on muscle). Body mass was the most significant positive predictor of absolute muscle thickness, for all muscles at rest and during hollowing, accounting for 30-44% variance. Body mass index explained 20-30% variance in transvs. abdominis contraction ratio (negative relationship). The influence of these confounders must be considered in comparative studies of healthy controls and back pain patients, unless groups are very carefully matched. Asymmetries observed in patients should be interpreted with caution, as they are also common in healthy subjects.
Topics: Abdominal Muscles; Adult; Anthropometry; Body Mass Index; Body Weight; Exercise; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle Contraction; Rest; Sex Characteristics; Supine Position; Ultrasonography; Young Adult
PubMed: 19172732
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.00946.x -
Journal of Applied Physiology... Jul 2014Although rats are a frequent model for studies of plasticity in respiratory motor control, the relative capacity of rat accessory respiratory muscles to express...
UNLABELLED
Although rats are a frequent model for studies of plasticity in respiratory motor control, the relative capacity of rat accessory respiratory muscles to express plasticity is not well known, particularly in unanesthetized animals. Here, we characterized external intercostal (T2, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, T9 EIC) and abdominal muscle (external oblique and rectus abdominis) electromyogram (EMG) activity in unanesthetized rats via radiotelemetry during normoxia (Nx: 21% O2) and following acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH: 10 × 5-min, 10.5% O2; 5-min intervals). Diaphragm and T2-T5 EIC EMG activity, and ventilation were also assessed during maximal chemoreceptor stimulation (
MCS
7% CO2, 10.5% O2) and sustained hypoxia (SH: 10.5% O2). In Nx, T2 EIC exhibits prominent inspiratory activity, whereas T4, T5, T6, and T7 EIC inspiratory activity decreases in a caudal direction. T8 and T9 EIC and abdominal muscles show only tonic or sporadic activity, without consistent respiratory activity. MCS increases diaphragm and T2 EIC EMG amplitude and tidal volume more than SH (0.94 ± 0.10 vs. 0.68 ± 0.05 ml/100 g; P < 0.001). Following AIH, T2 EIC EMG amplitude remained above baseline for more than 60 min post-AIH (i.e., EIC long-term facilitation, LTF), and was greater than diaphragm LTF (41.5 ± 1.3% vs. 19.1 ± 2.0% baseline; P < 0.001). We conclude that 1) diaphragm and rostral T2-T5 EIC muscles exhibit inspiratory activity during Nx; 2) MCS elicits greater ventilatory, diaphragm, and rostral T2-T5 EIC muscle activity vs. SH; and 3) AIH induces greater rostral EIC LTF than diaphragm LTF.
Topics: Abdominal Muscles; Animals; Chemoreceptor Cells; Diaphragm; Electromyography; Hypoxia; Intercostal Muscles; Male; Phrenic Nerve; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Respiration; Respiratory Mechanics; Respiratory Muscles; Tidal Volume
PubMed: 24833779
DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00130.2014 -
Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences Aug 2023This study aims at examining the effects of Pilates training on the transversus abdominis (TrA) and internal obliques (IO) muscle thickness and core endurance in...
BACKGROUND
This study aims at examining the effects of Pilates training on the transversus abdominis (TrA) and internal obliques (IO) muscle thickness and core endurance in different positions in patients with Parkinson's Disease.
METHODS
Patients were divided into 2 groups as Pilates training (n = 13) and control (n = 10) groups. Pilates training was performed twice a week for 6 weeks. The participants' muscle thickness and core endurance were measured at the beginning of the study (pretraining), and the effectiveness of Pilates training was then assessed in the 6th week (posttraining) and in the 12th-week follow-up. The thickness of the TrA and IO muscles was measured with a two-dimensional ultrasonography device. Core endurance was assessed with prone bridge and sit-ups tests.
RESULTS
The assessments of the Pilates training group after the 6-week showed a statistically significant increase in the prone bridge and sit-ups test performances, and an increase in the thickness of the IO muscle [during resting in the supine position and abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM) in standing position] and the TrA muscle (during ADIM in the standing position) (p < 0.05). Pilates exercises were also shown to have improved core muscle endurance and thickness (IO thickness during ADIM in the standing position and TrA thickness during resting in the supine position, ADIM in the supine and standing position) in the Pilates training group after a period of 18 weeks (p < 0.05).
DISCUSSION
Pilates training has a favorable effect on the core endurance, and the TrA and IO muscle thickness of patients with Parkinson's disease and this effect can be maintained until three months after the training.
Topics: Humans; Parkinson Disease; Single-Blind Method; Abdominal Muscles; Exercise Therapy; Ultrasonography; Exercise Movement Techniques; Muscle Contraction
PubMed: 38031945
DOI: 10.55730/1300-0144.5663