Are medial gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior morphology indicative of kinematic and kinetic impairment during gait in children with spastic cerebral palsy and a control group of typically developing peers?

摘要

Children with spastic cerebral palsy (SCP) present with impaired muscle growth compared to typical development (TD), where the deficits in muscle volume lead to lower force-generation, and reduced functional capacity. With respect to gait, moderate associations in the stance phase were found between plantar flexor work and muscle volume in unilaterally impaired SCP adolescents [1], whilst similar findings were reported between the sagittal plane ankle angle at initial contact and pennation angle of the tibialis anterior [2]. Neither investigation compared these findings to data of a control cohort. It is also unknown to what extent the proliferation of non-contractile tissue within SCP muscles [3] influences muscle function.