Fontan Patient Skeletal Muscle Assessment Protocol

Tyler A. Fick's protocol outlines a cross-sectional, case-control study to evaluate skeletal muscle structure and function in adolescents with single ventricle heart disease. The study plans to recruit 40 patients and 40 matched controls for assessments including echocardiograms, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, muscle ultrasound, and frailty evaluation. The protocol document was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze relationships between skeletal muscle ultrasound metrics and cardiopulmonary exercise test results like VO2 max.
• Compare frailty assessment scores between the 40 single ventricle patients and the 40 matched controls.
• Correlate echocardiogram strain analysis data with near-infrared spectroscopy measurements of muscle oxygenation.
• Model the association between 7-day accelerometer physical activity data and Biodex muscle strength test outcomes.
• Identify features from the multi-domain assessment (cardiac function, fitness, frailty) that best differentiate case and control groups.

Strengths

• Study design includes a matched control group of 40 individuals for comparison.
• Protocol specifies multiple, specific assessment modalities: echocardiogram, cardiopulmonary exercise test, ultrasound, near-infrared spectroscopy, Biodex, frailty assessment, and 7-day accelerometry.

Limitations

• Dataset is a 18.8 KB protocol document, not the resulting raw or processed study data.
• Sample size is limited to 80 total participants (40 cases, 40 controls), which may limit statistical power for some analyses.
• The document provides a study plan; the actual data collection results, specific measurements, and participant-level data are not included.

Provenance

Source

Tyler A. Fick via figshare.

Collection Method

Planned data collection via a single study visit for 80 recruited participants using clinical and laboratory assessments.

Time Range

Study is cross-sectional, with data collected during a single visit per participant.

Freshness

Protocol document was updated in April 2026, indicating a recent study plan.

Geography

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