gait evaluation

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by a range of motor symptoms as well as documented sensory dysfunction. This sensory dysfunction can present itself either as a "pure" sensory disturbance or as a consequence of sensory-motor integration within the central nervous system. This study aims to investigate changes in the functional connectivity of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and its clinical significance in Parkinson's disease (PD), an area that has received limited attention in previous neuroimaging studies...

Understanding individuals' distinct movement patterns is crucial for health, rehabilitation, and sports. Recently, we developed a machine learning-based framework to show that "gait signatures" describing the neuromechanical dynamics governing able-bodied and post-stroke gait kinematics remain individual-specific across speeds. However, we only evaluated gait signatures within a limited speed range and number of participants, using only sagittal plane (i.e., 2D) joint angles. Here we characterized changes in gait signatures across a wide range of speeds, from very slow (0...

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 survivors may develop long-term symptoms of fatigue, dyspnea, mental health issues, and functional limitations: a condition termed post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a recommended treatment for PASC; however, there is a lack of data regarding PR's effect on multiple health indices and the factors that influence patient outcomes. The aim of our study is to evaluate the impact of pulmonary rehabilitation on functional and psychological parameters in patients diagnosed with Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (PASC), thereby offering insights into the efficacy of such interventions in improving the quality of life and clinical outcomes for these individuals...

BACKGROUND: Instrumented gait analysis (IGA) is an assessment and research tool with proven impacts on clinical decision-making for the management of ambulant children and young people with cerebral palsy (CYPwCP) but is underused and variably understood by relevant clinicians. Clinicians' difficulties in gaining expertise and confidence in using IGA are multifactorial and related to access for clinical decision-making, limited training opportunities and inability to translate this training into clinical practice...

BACKGROUND: Gait disorder remains a major challenge for individuals with stroke, affecting their quality of life and increasing the risk of secondary complications. Robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) has emerged as a promising approach for improving gait independence in individuals with stroke. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of RAGT in individuals with subacute hemiparetic stroke using a one-leg assisted gait robot called Welwalk WW-1000. METHODS: An assessor-blinded, multicenter randomized controlled trial was conducted in the convalescent rehabilitation wards of eight hospitals in Japan...

Brucellosis, a zoonotic disease caused by Brucella species, poses a significant global health concern. Among its diverse clinical manifestations, neurobrucellosis remains an infrequent yet debilitating complication. Here, we present a rare case of neurobrucellosis with unusual presentations in a 45-year-old woman. The patient's clinical course included progressive lower extremity weakness, muscle wasting, and double vision, prompting a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation. Notable findings included polyneuropathy, elevated brucella agglutination titers in both cerebrospinal fluid and blood, abnormal EMG-NCV tests, and resolving symptoms with antibiotic therapy...

BACKGROUND: Assistive devices (ADs) for ambulation are commonly provided to improve safety and independence in older adults. Despite the common use of these devices, there are no standard prescribing guidelines, and non-health care providers, including caregivers and family members, often make decisions about the need for ADs. Identifying factors or a single screening test associated with AD use would benefit clinicians and non-health care caregivers in making decisions to adopt an AD for patients, clients, and family members...

BACKGROUND: To evaluate whether the knee adduction moment (KAM) could be reduced by a short instruction in the Draw-in (DI) maneuver in healthy adults, and whether knee joint function would improve with a longer DI gait intervention in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHOD: In Study 1, healthy adults received 10 minutes supervised instruction in DI gait in and then practiced the gait independently for 10 minutes. Three-dimensional motion analysis measurement was performed in each phase...

INTRODUCTION: Unilateral gamma knife thalamotomy (GKT) is a treatment option for pharmacoresistant tremor of various aetiologies. There have been to date no randomised controlled trials performed to assess its safety and efficacy. Our aim was to summarise a two-year multimodal observation of patients with tremor caused by Parkinson's Disease (PD) or essential tremor (ET). MATERIAL AND METHODS: 23 patients with PD (n = 12) or ET (n = 11) were included. They underwent assessments before, V0 (n = 23), and 12 months, V12 (n = 23), and 24 months, V24 (n = 15), after unilateral GKT...

Cerebellar hemispheric enlargement with atypical neurological symptoms poses diagnostic challenges in clinical practice. We present the case of a 57-year-old female with persistent headache, left facial paraesthesia, dysarthria, gait ataxia, and longstanding neck swelling. Imaging studies revealed enlargement of the left cerebellar hemisphere with associated mass effect and compression of adjacent structures. The underlying etiology remained uncertain despite extensive evaluation, including magnetic resonance imaging and angiography...

Robotic systems, such as Lokomat® have shown promising results in people with severe motor impairments, who suffered a stroke or other neurological damage. Robotic devices have also been used by people with more challenging damages, such as Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), using feedback strategies that provide information about the brain activity in real-time. This study proposes a novel Motor Imagery (MI)-based Electroencephalogram (EEG) Visual Neurofeedback (VNFB) system for Lokomat® to teach individuals how to modulate their own μ (8-12 Hz) and β (15-20 Hz) rhythms during passive walking...

PURPOSE: Although patients with varus knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and concurrent ankle osteoarthritis (AOA) may experience increased ankle joint pain after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of concurrent AOA on ankle and hindfoot alignment, frontal plane ankle and hindfoot biomechanics during gait following TKA and the clinical outcomes. METHODS: Twenty-four patients with varus KOA who underwent TKA were included in this retrospective cohort study...

Engaging in meaningful and repetitive goal-oriented functional tasks can effectively enhance neuroplasticity and facilitate recovery following a stroke. This particular approach has primarily been studied in relation to functional outcomes and has predominantly focused on late subacute and chronic stroke patients. However, there is a lack of information regarding the standardized protocol of lower extremity functional training, its constituent elements, and its impact on motor recovery during the early subacute phase of stroke...

Background The anterior iliac crest is the workhorse for the harvest of cancellous bone in children undergoing cleft alveolar bone grafting. However, the complexity of the anatomy makes the process of harvesting graft technique sensitive. The aim was to describe the outcomes of the medially based trap door method of graft harvest in pediatric patients undergoing cleft alveolar bone grafting. Methods A cohort study was conducted, including all the patients in the age group of 8-12 years. Alveolar bone grafting was performed after harvesting a cancellous graft from the iliac crest bone grafting (ICBG) using a medially based trap door approach...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the immediate effects of vibration foam rolling on dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM), balance, and gait in stroke patients. Thirty stroke patients volunteered to participate and were randomly assigned to the vibrating foam roller group (n=15) and the foam roller group (n=15). The vibrating foam roller group performed a 30-min foam roller exercise program, with participants subjected to vibration at 28 Hz. The foam roller group performed the same exercise program as the vibrating foam roller group, but without vibration...

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a preoperative combined with postoperative moderate-intensity progressive resistance training (PRT) of the operative side in patients with hip osteoarthritis (HOA) who are undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA). The study seeks to evaluate the impact of this combined intervention on muscle strength, gait, balance, and hip joint function in a controlled, measurable, and objective manner. Additionally, the study aims to compare the outcomes of this combined intervention with those of preoperative or postoperative muscle strength training conducted in isolation...

Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a group of genetic neuromuscular disorders that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscles over time, influencing 1 in 3500-5000 children worldwide. New and exciting treatment options have led to a critical need for a clinical post-marketing surveillance tool to confirm the efficacy and safety of these treatments after individuals receive them in a commercial setting. For MDs, functional gait assessment is a common approach to evaluate the efficacy of the treatments because muscle weakness is reflected in individuals' walking patterns...

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual reality interventions in preventing falls among non-disabled older adults. METHODS: We conducted a librarian-designed database search. Two researchers independently screened eligible studies. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions was used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies. RESULTS: Virtual reality interventions can effectively improve gait and dynamic and static balance function, enhance lower limb muscle strength, and reduce the risk of falls in the non-disabled elderly...

UNLABELLED: Perthes disease is a condition that affects walking patterns in young children due to poor blood circulation in the hip joint. Understanding the gait strategies of affected children is of great importance for an objective assessment and better management of this condition. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current literature to identify gait compensation patterns in non-operative children with Perthes disease. METHODS: A systematic electronic search was performed using MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, BIOSIS, and the Cochrane Library to identify studies published from inception up until December 2023...

Strain differences have been reported for motor behaviors, and only a subset of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients develop neuropathic pain, implicating genetic or genomic contribution to this condition. Here, we evaluated neuropsychiatric behaviors in A/J, BALB/c, and C57BL/6 male mice and tested genetic or genomic alterations following SCI. A/J and BALB/c naive mice showed significantly less locomotor activity and greater anxiety-like behavior than C57BL/6 mice. Although SCI elicited locomotor dysfunction, C57BL/6 and A/J mice showed the best and the worst post-traumatic recovery, respectively...