Articles: function.
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The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is commonly used in gerontology, but its determinants have not been previously evaluated in COPD. In particular, it is unknown whether pulmonary aspects of COPD would limit the value of SPPB as an assessment tool of lower limb function. ⋯ The SPPB is a valid and simple assessment tool that may detect a phenotype with functional impairment, loss of muscle mass, and structural muscle abnormality in stable patients with COPD.
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Comparative Study
ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY OF THE PULMONARY CIRCULATION AND RIGHT VENTRICULAR FUNCTION: EXPLORING THE PHYSIOLOGIC SPECTRUM IN 1480 NORMAL SUBJECTS.
Although transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is an excellent noninvasive screening test for pulmonary hypertension, the physiologic range of Doppler echocardiography-derived pulmonary pressures remains not completely investigated. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to explore the full spectrum of pulmonary pressures and right ventricular (RV) functional indexes by TTE in healthy subjects and to investigate clinical and echocardiographic correlates. ⋯ This study delineates an estimate of pulmonary hemodynamics in a wide age range cohort of healthy subjects. Pulmonary pressures increased with age and BMI, as expected.
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Critical care medicine · May 2014
ReviewRehabilitation Interventions for Postintensive Care Syndrome: A Systematic Review.
An increasing number of ICU patients survive and develop mental, cognitive, or physical impairments. Various interventions support recovery from this postintensive care syndrome. Physicians in charge of post-ICU patients need to know which interventions are effective. ⋯ Interventions which have substantial effects in post-ICU patients are rare. Positive effects were seen for ICU-diary interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder. More interventions for the growing number of ICU survivors are needed.
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Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a common consequence of amputation and is difficult to treat. Mirror therapy (MT), a procedure utilizing the visual recreation of movement of a lost limb by moving the intact limb in front of a mirror, has been shown to be effective in reducing PLP. However, the neural correlates of this effect are not known. ⋯ Experienced body appearance seems to be an important predictor of mirror treatment effectiveness. Maladaptive changes in cortical organization are reversed during mirror treatment, which also alters activity in the IPC, a region involved in painful perceptions and in the perceived relatedness to an observed limb.