The Quantitative Assessment of Respiratory Muscles by Computed Tomography in Patients of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Abstract

Objectives Progressive weakness of respiratory muscle is common to patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which leads to respiratory failure, even death. The evaluation of respiratory muscle is essential to evaluate the severity during the progression of the disease and choose appropriate interventions. This study aimed to evaluate the respiratory muscles change of the patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis by regular chest computed tomography. Methods The cross-sectional area of respiratory muscles in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients was retrospectively reviewed. The severity of the disease was determined by the value of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis function score scale. A healthy control group was selected with well-matched to the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. Results Compared with the healthy control group, the cross-sectional area of the diaphragm muscle was lower in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. The reduced cross-sectional area of respiratory muscles has a positive correlation with a lower amyotrophic lateral sclerosis function score. Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis further showed a significant reduction in the cross-sectional area of respiratory muscles after 6-8 months.Conclusions The single-slice axial computed tomography is a fast and reliable method to quantitatively assess the cross-sectional area of respiratory muscles, especially diaphragm muscle, in disease progression.