Clinical trial NCT03556449: High Resolution Ultrasound of Scapulae Alatae - a Prospective Case Control Study
Official title: High Resolution Ultrasound of Scapulae Alatae - Correlation With Electrophysiological Measurements - a Prospective Case Control Study
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Scapula Alata
Scapular Winging
Keywords: scapula/innervation*
Thoracic Nerves/injuries*
Peripheral Nerve Injuries
Shoulder
Musculoskeletal Diseases/diagnosis*
Lead sponsor: Aarhus University Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-06-14
Enrollment: 80
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Observational model: CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Patients: From patients referred to the department of Neurophysiology, Aarhus University hopsital.

Healthy subjects: From recruitment posters at Aarhus University, Aarhus University Hospital and at http://www.forsoegsperson.dk/.

Brief summary: Scapula alata, caused by disturbance in the scapulothoracic stabilizer muscles due to nerve injury, is a relatively rare but also underreported disease. It can lead to years of invalidity of the affected upper extremity, considerable pain and social and emotional consequences for the patients. Unrecognized and misdiagnosed scapula alata and, consequently, wrong or delayed treatment is a general problem in this patient group. Today the diagnosis is based on the clinical examination and the electrophysiological examination. One of the problems is that the electrophysiological examination in a fair part of the patients is not showing any pathology even though the history of the patient and the clinical evaluation are indicating scapula alata.

This study is a single-blinded, prospective, controlled multicentre study. The aim of the study is to investigate whether ultrasound can be used as a supplement to the electrophysiological examination when diagnosing scapula alata. Ultrasound will be used to visualize possible thickening of the cross-sectional area of nerves and the degree and pattern of muscle involvement in patients with scapula alata. By comparing measurements from scapula alata patients with the measurements from healthy controls, we are able to see if ultrasound can distinguish these two groups from each other. Furthermore, we will examine whether the ultrasound measurements correlate with the electrophysiological findings in patients and, when available, compare the ultrasound measurements of muscle thickness with MRI (magnetic resonance Imaging) findings. The use of ultrasound in scapula alata patients may help determine the presence and severity of a nerve lesion and the subsequent degree of muscle involvement and may therefore serve as a supplement to the clinical diagnosis.


Eligibility criteria: Patients:

Inclusion Criteria:

* Clinical suspicion of scapula alata

Exclusion Criteria:

* Winged scapula due to other cause than nerve damage. eg. myopathy

Healthy subjects

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of Shoulder trauma or shoulder disease
* History of cervical radiculopathy
* History of upper extremity peripheral neuropathy/plexopathy
* Peripheral vascular disease

Primary outcomes:
measure: Thickness of musculus serratus anterior
timeFrame: 10-15 minuttes
measure: Thickness of musculus trapezius
timeFrame: 10-15 minuttes
measure: Thickness of musculus rhomboideus
timeFrame: 10-15 minuttes
measure: Cross sectional area of nervus thoracicus longus
timeFrame: 10-15 minuttes
measure: Cross sectional area of nervus accesorius
timeFrame: 10-15 minuttes
measure: Cross sectional area of nervus dorsalis scapularis
timeFrame: 10-15 minuttes
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Aarhus
country: Denmark
facility: Clinic of Neurophysiology, the department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital
Study officials:
References: