Valera Calero, Juan AntonioGallego Sendarrubias, Gracia MaríaFernández de las Peñas, CésarCleland, Joshua A.Ortega Santiago, RicardoArias Buría, José Luis2026-05-122026-05-122020-09-24Valera-Calero JA, Gallego-Sendarrubias GM, Fernández-De-las-Peñas C, Cleland JA, Ortega-Santiago R, Arias-Buría JL. Panoramic ultrasound examination of posterior neck extensors in healthy subjects: intra-examiner reliability study. Diagnostics. 2020;10(10).10.3390/diagnostics10100740https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/136676Previous studies analyzing morphometry of posterior cervical muscles with ultrasound (US) imaging have mainly used Brightness mode (B-mode). Our aim was to investigate the intra-examiner reliability of panoramic US imaging for assessing posterior-lateral cervical muscle layers. Panoramic US images of the neck at C4/C5 level were acquired in 25 asymptomatic subjects (40% women; mean age: 24 years) by an experienced assessor. The cross-sectional area (CSA) of the upper trapezius, splenius, semispinalis, multifidi, rotators, and levator scapulae was measured from panoramic US scans on two separate days. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC3,1), standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change (MDC) and mean, absolute and percent errors were calculated. In general, intra-examiner reliability was excellent with ICC3,1 ranging from 0.978 (trapezius) to 0.993 (semispinalis). The SEM ranged from 0.02 (multifidus) to 0.07 (semispinalis/levator), whereas the MDC ranged from 0.05 (cervical multifidus) to 0.19 (levator/semispinalis). Absolute error was lower than 0.11 cm2 (levator/semispinalis). No differences between males and females were found. This study found that intra-examiner/rater reliability of panoramic US imaging was excellent for assessing the CSA of the posterior-lateral neck extensor muscles in asymptomatic subjects. The current findings suggest that panoramic US may be a reliable technique for examining the size of the cervical extensor muscles in both males and females.engAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/journal article2075-4418https://doi.org/10.3390/DIAGNOSTICS10100740https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/10/10/740open access61UltrasonographyPanoramic ultrasoundNeck musclesReproducibility of resultsCiencias Biomédicas3299 Otras Especialidades Médicas