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Morphological and functional assessment of the flexor carpi radialis brevis using conventional ultrasound and elastography

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Abstract

Purpose

The flexor carpi radialis brevis (FCRB) is a supernumerary musculotendinous structure of the wrist that has been the focus of some interest in the last decade. While its anatomy is well known, its in vivo function remains unknown as it has never been studied.

Methods

Eleven cases of FCRB underwent a multimodal ultrasound consisting of B-mode, color Doppler and shear wave elastography.

Results

A pennate shape was observed in all cases and the mean value of the cross-sectional area was 0.8 cm2 (SD 0.3 cm2). Young’s modulus was significantly (p < 0.01) different between the resting position and active flexion or passive extension.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrates that the FCRB shows biomechanics of a typical skeletal muscle and is voluntarily controlled by flexing the wrist. Absent in other vertebrate taxa, the FCRB probably plays a role in active stability of the wrist in Human.

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Funding

The authors received no financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hand Surgery, Lausanne University Hospital, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Sébastien Durand, Thierry Christen & Théa Voser

  2. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jean-Aibert Collinot & Fabio Becce

Authors
  1. Sébastien Durand
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  2. Jean-Aibert Collinot
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  3. Thierry Christen
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  4. Fabio Becce
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  5. Théa Voser
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Contributions

SD: Project development, data collection, manuscript writing. JAC: Data collection. TC: Manuscript writing. FB: Manuscript revision, data collection. TV: Data collection. All authors have contributed significantly and all authors are in agreement with the content of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sébastien Durand.

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There is no potential conflicts of interest.

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This study has been performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the declaration of Helsinki and reviewed and approved by an appropriate ethics committee: CER-VD (BASEC-ID 2017-00120).

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Consent form to participate and for publication was signed by each patient and collected.

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Supplementary Information

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Supplementary file1 (AVI 17136 KB) Video 1: Shear Wave Elastography of the FCRB from rest position to active flexion of thewrist

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Durand, S., Collinot, JA., Christen, T. et al. Morphological and functional assessment of the flexor carpi radialis brevis using conventional ultrasound and elastography. Surg Radiol Anat 43, 721–726 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02660-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02660-y

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