Stiff man

BACKGROUND: Stiff person syndrome (SPS) is a rare neuroimmunological disorder characterized by rigidity and painful spasm primarily affecting the truncal and paraspinal musculature due to autoimmune-mediated neuronal hyperexcitability. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an approved therapy for managing painful neuropathic conditions, including diabetic peripheral neuropathy and refractory angina pectoris. We describe the novel use of SCS for the treatment of spasm and rigidity in a 49-year-old man with seropositive stiff person syndrome (SPS)...

OBJECTIVES: To describe a patient with mild GAD-positive stiff-leg syndrome (SLS) who developed severely disabling stiff-person syndrome (SPS) 1 week after mild COVID-19 and discuss the impact of viral implications. METHODS: Video-documented serial clinical observations at baseline, after acute COVID-19, and after IVIG treatments. RESULTS: A 39-year-old man with left-SLS was stable during a 2-year follow-up with low-dose antispasmodics, working fully and functioning normally, even able to run...

A 41-year-old man underwent Total Knee Arthroplasty with NexGen Legacy Constrained Condylar Knee (LCCK) system to treat his nonunion of distal femur, stiff knee, and malunion of tibia plateau. The treatment involved femoral and tibial stems and PS polyethylene. As a result, his knee range of motion improved, and he no longer experienced pain. After two years, he resumed work without any signs of loosening or stiffness.

BACKGROUND: To assess the applicability of the association between estimated glucose disposal rate (eGDR) and all-cause mortality in the elderly population, and the mediating role of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). METHODS: This was a follow-up cohort study based on the cross-sectional survey of community-dwelling elderly. All participants in the study were included between September 2009 and June 2010, and the follow-up time was December 2020. Participants included 1862 Chinese community-dwelling elderly aged 60 years and above...

BACKGROUND: In repaired tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) patients with residual right ventricular (RV) outflow tract obstructions (RVOTO), risk stratification and timing of re-interventions are based on RVOTO gradients. However, this might be insufficient to prevent RV dysfunction. Instead, assessment of RV to pulmonary arterial (RV-PA) coupling allows integrated assessment of RV function in relationship to its afterload and could be of additional value in clinical decision-making. CASE SUMMARY: Two patients with repaired ToF and residual RVOTO without pulmonary regurgitation underwent right heart catheterization (RHC) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging...

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BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Estimated pulse wave velocity (ePWV) and systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI) have been recently investigated as a marker of arterial stiffness and a novel systemic inflammatory indicator. This study aims to examine the independent and combined association of ePWV and SIRI with incident stroke and its subtypes. METHODS: Data of the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort study was analyzed for 9,154 middle-aged and older adults, who were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer and were followed up to document incident stroke...

INTRODUCTION: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is characterized by deranged bone and muscle qualities, which are important prognostic factors for curve progression. This retrospective case-control study aims to investigate whether the baseline muscle parameters, in addition to the bone parameters, could predict curve progression in AIS. METHODS: The study included a cohort of 126 female patients diagnosed with AIS who were between the ages of 12 and 14 years old at their initial clinical visit...

BACKGROUND: Bone is a living material that, unlike man-made ones, demonstrates continuous adaptation of its structure and mechanical properties to resist the imposed mechanical loading. Adaptation in trabecular bone is characterised by improvement of its stiffness in the loading direction and respective realignment of trabecular load-bearing architecture. Considerable experimental and simulation evidence of trabecular bone adaptation to its mechanical environment at the tissue- and organ-levels was obtained, while little attention was given to the trabecula-level of this process...

Titin-dependent stiffening of cardiomyocytes is a significant contributor to left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction in heart failure with preserved LV ejection fraction (HFpEF). Small heat shock proteins (HSPs), such as HSPB5 and HSPB1, protect titin and administration of HSPB5 in vitro lowers cardiomyocyte stiffness in pressure-overload hypertrophy. In humans, oral treatment with geranylgeranylacetone (GGA) increases myocardial HSP expression, but the functional implications are unknown. Our objective was to investigate whether oral GGA treatment lowers cardiomyocyte stiffness and attenuates LV diastolic dysfunction in a rat model of the cardiometabolic syndrome...

We describe a case of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and angulated proximal neck treated with a Gore Excluder conformable endoprosthesis and show relevant technical pitfalls in the deployment of the graft main body. An 82-year-old man presented with a 71-mm asymptomatic AAA with an angulated infrarenal proximal neck (75°) and was referred to our unit. The patient was treated with a 26-mm Gore Excluder conformable device, which was deployed slightly above the renal arteries after precatheterization of the lowest renal artery...

We herein report the first case of autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) astrocytopathy after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A 23-year-old man experienced fatigue, a fever, and headache 14 days after the resolution of COVID-19. He was severely disoriented and admitted to our hospital. On admission, the patient exhibited disorientation, headache, neck stiffness, myoclonus of both upper limbs, dysuria, and pyramidal signs. A blood examination revealed hyponatremia, and a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis showed lymphocytic pleocytosis...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Tsukushi (TSK) is a recently identified hepatokine and we aimed to investigate the association between systemic TSK and the severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in subjects with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: 393 DM and 289 without DM individuals were recruited for transient elastography assessment to determine liver steatosis and fibrosis. Serum TSK was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method...

Autoimmune polyendocrine (or polyglandular) syndrome (APS) is a relatively rare clinical condition characterized by functional impairment of multiple endocrine glands due to loss of immune tolerance. APS is broadly categorized as rare monogenic forms, such as autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS-1), and a more common polygenic variety, autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 2 (APS-2). Although many autoimmune conditions including autoimmune rheumatic diseases can develop in APS-2, systemic sclerosis or myositis as a complication is quite rare and no treatment strategy has yet been established...

INTRODUCTION: The dislocation of the elbow joint to the posterior or postero-lateral region accompanied by fractures in the radial head or neck and coronoid process of the Ulna is known as a terrible triad injury of the elbow (TTI). IMPORTANCE: This injury presents as unique challenge for orthopedic surgeons due to elbow instability and stiffness, making the surgical intervention more difficult than usual. CASE PRESENTATION: A 47-year-old man suffered from polytrauma, including a pelvis fracture, a left humerus shaft fracture, and left ulna shaft fracture...

PURPOSE: Cytotoxic lesions of corpus callosum (CLOCCs) are associated with many disease entities. Serious neurological complications after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination are rare. CASE REPORT: A 20-year-old man presented with severe headache for 2 days. He had received the first dose of ChAdOx1nCoV-19 COVID-19 vaccine 5 days ago. Persistent dull headache occurred on the third day after vaccination and intensified gradually to awaken him from sleep at night...

A mechanical model for a human-machine interaction force based on the man-machine kinematic chain is established. This is combined with screw theory and a virtual rigid body model for the human-machine interaction force is proposed. This model interprets the basic principle model of the human-machine contact force. The deviation of the human-machine kinematic chain is calculated using the virtual model. In order to carry out the calibration simulation for the model, a 6-sps parallel mechanism is taken as an example to illustrate the construction principle of the human-machine interaction virtual rigid body model...

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Heterotopic ossification (HO) often arises in response to trauma, prior surgical procedures, neurological injuries, or burns. However, its presentation as a complication of shoulder arthroscopy is uncommon and can sometimes lead to functional impairment. In our study, we report a case of HO complicating rotator cuff repair, along with details of the surgical treatment and subsequent progression. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 45-year-old man with no medical history, who had undergone a rotator cuff arthroscopic repair of his left shoulder...

The global shortage of cotton for textile production, forces the exploitation of forests´ lignocellulosic biomass to produce man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCF). This has a considerable environmental impact, pressing the textile industry to search for new sustainable materials and to the development of sustainable recycling processes. Bacterial cellulose (BC), an exopolysaccharide produced by fermentation, could represent such an alternative. In particular, we tested the possibility of improving the mechanical properties of cellulose filaments with a low degree of polymerization (DP) by combining them with high DP from BC, so far exploited to little extent in the textile field...

OBJECTIVE: Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) is a rare autoimmune disorder that affects approximately one in every million people. It is characterized by progressive muscle rigidity and intense, episodic muscle spasms triggered by environmental and psychosocial (i.e., emotional stress) factors. While original diagnostic criteria for classical SPS included the absence of frank cognitive impairment (aside from what would be expected from seizures), more recent literature suggests a number of neurocognitive difficulties potentially associated with reduced GABA levels...