AIM To analyze age dependencies in the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve during early childhood. METHOD A total of 43 participants (32 of whom were children younger than 2 years) were included in this cross-sectional study to analyze the age dependency of the CSA of the median nerve at three locations (wrist, forearm and upper arm) using high-resolution ultrasound images. RESULTS A strong and highly significant correlation was found between age and CSA (p < 0.001). When plotted, the relationship followed a logarithmic curve (p < 0.001) with a growth rate that decreases with age. Based on the regression analysis, a temporally similar increase in CSA for all three locations was found. The nerve reaches 70% of its final CSA by 2 years of age at all three locations. INTERPRETATION Similar to the nerve conduction speed, the increase in CSA is greatest during the first 2 years of life. Then, the rate gradually and synchronously slows at the proximal and distal locations. Measurement of the CSA in the clinical setting might offer a new method to assess the maturation of the nervous system in infants with minimal interference.

中文翻译：

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高分辨率超声成像分析新生儿、婴儿和儿童正中神经横截面积随年龄的变化

目的 分析儿童早期正中神经横截面积 (CSA) 的年龄依赖性。方法 共有 43 名参与者（其中 32 名是 2 岁以下的儿童）被纳入这项横断面研究，以使用高强度法分析三个位置（手腕、前臂和上臂）正中神经 CSA 的年龄依赖性。 - 分辨率超声图像。结果 在年龄和 CSA 之间发现了强烈且高度显着的相关性 (p < 0.001)。绘制时，该关系遵循对数曲线 (p < 0.001)，增长率随年龄增长而降低。根据回归分析，发现所有三个位置的 CSA 在时间上都有相似的增加。到 2 岁时，神经在所有三个位置都达到其最终 CSA 的 70%。解释类似于神经传导速度，CSA 的增加在生命的前两年最大。然后，速率在近端和远端位置逐渐同步减慢。在临床环境中测量 CSA 可能提供一种新方法来评估婴儿神经系统的成熟度，干扰最小。