Probing arm muscle structure underlying motor impairment in children with cerebral palsy using DTI tractography

Individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) exhibit musculoskeletal maladaptations that have a profound impact on wrist and hand function, yet there is little understanding regarding underlying arm muscle structural changes. We implemented DTI to estimate in vivo muscle architecture of a forearm flexor muscle in both paretic and non-paretic arms of children with hemiparetic CP (n=5). Bone length, muscle size, fascicle lengths, and MD decreased while fascicle curvature increased in the paretic limb. Interlimb differences in fascicle length and curvature were correlated with interlimb differences in MD. We show that DTI is effective at capturing forearm muscle architecture changes in CP.