Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation
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Arch Phys Med Rehabil · Dec 2008
Comparative StudyUse of diffusion-tensor imaging in traumatic spinal cord injury to identify concomitant traumatic brain injury.
To characterize and differentiate cerebral white matter (WM) changes related selectively to traumatic brain injury (TBI) or spinal cord injury (SCI) in patients with SCIs in order to improve diagnostic accuracy of TBI in people with SCI. ⋯ DTI is a sensitive tool to detect TBI-related WM damage in patients with SCI who have suffered concomitant TBI. No WM abnormalities on DTI could be attributed to SCI alone, although this finding should be further explored in future studies. Therefore, DTI may be a valuable tool to identify TBI in the SCI population. Further research to produce normative FA values is needed to allow identification of TBI in individual patients with SCI.
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Arch Phys Med Rehabil · Nov 2008
Physical function and properties of quadriceps femoris muscle in men with knee osteoarthritis.
To examine the objective physical function of the lower extremities, to measure the properties of quadriceps femoris muscle (QFM), and to assess subjective disabilities in men with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to compare the results with those obtained from age- and sex-matched control subjects. ⋯ The patients with knee OA exhibited impaired physical function and muscle strength and QFM composition compared with healthy controls. The severity of radiographic knee OA clearly had adverse effects on functional ability at the later stages of the disease. The results highlight the effect of QFM strength on physical function as well as the importance of patient's subjective and objective physical function when deciding on knee OA treatment policy.
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Arch Phys Med Rehabil · Nov 2008
Comparative StudySources of sacroiliac region pain: insights gained from a study comparing standard intra-articular injection with a technique combining intra- and peri-articular injection.
To present evidence supporting the existence of extra-articular sources for sacroiliac region pain and to present evidence that intra-articular anesthetic blockade may underestimate the true prevalence of sacroiliac region pain. ⋯ Significant extra-articular sources of sacroiliac region pain exist. Intra-articular diagnostic blocks underestimate the prevalence of sacroiliac region pain.