ABSTRACT
Pascal, Clermont Ferrand II, France 26.1 INTRODUCTION Although it is commonly accepted that muscle size determines the maximal isometric strength that a human skeletal muscle can produce in healthy adults regardless of the sex, it is unclear whether this relationship changes during growth and maturation. Results reported in pediatric populations are highly controversial. The ratio of isometric strength to maximal muscle cross sectional area (MCSA) has been reported as unchanged throughout adolescence and early adulthood in elbow flexors and triceps surae muscle (Davies et al., 1983; Ikai and Fukunaga, 1968), whereas a significant increase has been reported during growth for isometric and dynamic exercises (Halin et al., 2003; Kenehisa et al., 1995; Saavedra et al., 1991). However, part of these controversies could be attributed to methodological discrepancies among the studies. More particularly, precise quantification of muscle volume or maximal muscle cross sectional area (MCSA) from anthropometric measurements might not be as accurate in children as it is in adults. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether the relationship between muscle size and maximum isometric strength did change during growth and maturation. In addition to that, we quantified the potential measurements bias introduced by anthropometric estimations of local muscle volume considering MRI as the gold standard technique. We also determined the differences when muscle size was estimated from volume and MCSA measurements in a paediatric population.
