Unilateral traumatic brain injury of the left and right hemisphere produces the left hindlimb response in rats

Traumatic brain injury and stroke result in hemiplegia, hemiparesis, and asymmetry in posture. The effects are mostly contralateral; however, ipsilesional deficits may also develop. We here examined whether ablation brain injury and controlled cortical impact (CCI), a rat model of clinical focal traumatic brain injury, both centered over the left or right sensorimotor cortex, induced hindlimb postural asymmetry (HL-PA) with contralesional or ipsilesional limb flexion. The contralesional hindlimb was flexed after left or right side ablation injury. In contrast, both the left and right CCI unexpectedly produced HL-PA with flexion on left side. The flexion persisted after complete spinal cord transection suggesting that CCI triggered neuroplastic processes in lumbar neural circuits enabling asymmetric muscle contraction. Left limb flexion was exhibited under pentobarbital anesthesia. However, under ketamine anesthesia, the body of the left and right CCI rats bent laterally in the coronal plane to the ipsilesional side suggesting that the left and right injury engaged mirror-symmetrical motor pathways. Thus, the effects of the left and right CCI on HL-PA were not mirror-symmetrical in contrast to those of the ablation brain injury, and to the left and right CCI produced body bending. Ipsilateral effects of the left CCI on HL-PA may be mediated by a lateralized motor pathway that is not affected by the left ablation injury. Alternatively, the left-side-specific neurohormonal mechanism that signals from injured brain to spinal cord may be activated by both the left and right CCI but not by ablation injury.

Early intervention and its short-term effect on the temporal organization of fidgety movements

BACKGROUND

The Prechtl General Movement Assessment (GMA) predicts various neurological and developmental disorders while also documenting therapeutic effects.

AIMS

To describe the temporal organization of fidgety general movements in infants with mild to moderate postural asymmetries and/or tonus regulation problems, and to analyze to what extent the temporal organization of fidgety movements will change after physiotherapy.

STUDY DESIGN

Repeated measure design.

PARTICIPANTS

Twelve infants (five females) with mild to moderate postural asymmetries and/or tonus regulation problems were admitted for an early intervention program. The gestational age ranged from 27 to 40 weeks (Median, 36 weeks; nine infants born preterm) with birth weights ranging from 740 g to 3500 g (Median, 2590 g).

MEASURES

Fidgety movements and their temporal organization were measured using the Prechtl GMA at 9 to 19 weeks post term age (Median, 14 weeks) before and after an early motor training procedure. The movements of one of the infants were analysed using a computer-based approach, measuring the mean and standard deviation of quantity of motion, height of motion and width of motion.

RESULTS

Seven infants had sporadic fidgety movements, and five had intermittent fidgety movements. None had continual fidgety movements before the intervention was initiated. After intervention, the temporal organization of fidgety movements increased in all infants. The observations of these movements were supported by computer-based analysis.

CONCLUSION

The study indicates that early intervention increases the temporal organization of fidgety movements in infants with postural asymmetries and/or tonus regulation problems. The clinical significance of this finding needs to be further evaluated.

The effects of repetitive neck-muscle vibration on postural disturbances after a chronic stroke

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to test a repeated program of vibration sessions of the neck muscles (rNMV) on postural disturbances and spatial perception in patients with right (RBD) versus left (LBD) vascular brain damage.

METHODS

Thirty-two chronic stroke patients (mean age 60.9±10 yrs and mean time since stroke 4.9±4 yrs), 16 RBD and 16 LBD, underwent a program of 10 sessions of NMV over two weeks. Posturography parameters (weight-bearing asymmetry (WBA), Xm, Ym, and surface), balance rating (Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up and Go (TUG)), space representation (subjective straight ahead (SSA), longitudinal body axis (LBA), subjective visual vertical (SVV)), and post-stroke deficiencies (motricity index, sensitivity, and spasticity) were tested and the data analyzed by ANOVA or a linear rank-based model, depending on whether the data were normally distributed, with lesion side and time factor (D-15, D0, D15, D21, D45).

RESULTS

The ANOVA revealed a significant interaction between lesion side and time for WBA (P<0.0001) with a significant shift towards the paretic lower limb in the RBD patients only (P=0.0001), whereas there was no effect in the LBD patients (P=0.98). Neither group showed a significant modification of spatial representation. Nonetheless, there was a significant improvement in motricity (P=0.02), TUG (P=0.0005), and BBS (P<0.0001) in both groups at the end of treatment and afterwards.

CONCLUSIONS

rNMV appeared to correct WBA in RBD patients only. This suggests that rNMV could be effective in treating sustainable imbalance due to spatial cognition disorders.

Difference between individuals with left and right hemiparesis in the effect of gluteus medius vibration on body weight shifting

OBJECTIVE

To test the effect of gluteus medius (GM) vibration on the reduction of asymmetric body weight distribution in individuals with hemiparesis (HP) at two stages of postural recovery.

METHODS

The effects of GM vibration according to the shift of the body weight (%Shift) onto the paretic leg during GM vibration were registered while standing on a force-platform in 40 HP (19 left and 21 right; mean age 54.7±10.6years, mean time after stroke 2.0±1.3months), as soon as they could stand without assistance and 4 to 6 weeks later, and in 40 control subjects (mean age 54.7±10.5years).

RESULTS

Without vibration, baseline body weight (BW) distribution was characterized by underloading of the paretic limb (mean BW on the paretic limb 37.2%±13.1%). At the early stage of balance recovery, % shift toward the paretic limb induced by GM vibration differed significantly between left and right HP (P=0.049) and between left HP and controls (C) (P=0.022) and was related to BW asymmetry (r=0.437, P=0.004). Later, GM vibration reduced asymmetric BW distribution in most HP and no difference was found between left and right HP and between left and C.

CONCLUSION

At an advanced stage of postural recovery, GM vibration could help encourage HP to put weight on the affected limb. Interestingly, a behavioral difference was initially observed between right and left HP that could probably be explained by a different strategy due to the baseline severity of the BW asymmetry.

Reliability and validity of inexpensive and easily administered anthropometric clinical evaluation methods of postural asymmetry measurement in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a systematic review

PURPOSE

As accurate and reproducible measurements of spinal curvature are crucial in the examination of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), this systematic review aims to report on the reliability and validity of a range of inexpensive and easily administered anthropometric methods of postural asymmetry measurement in an AIS population, to inform practice in a clinical setting.

METHODS

A systematic search of health research databases located studies assessing reliability and validity of inexpensive and easily administered anthropometric measures.

RESULTS

Fourteen studies satisfied eligibility criteria. The methodological quality of included studies ranged from low to high. Validity studies were of moderate to high quality. In total, nine clinically applicable, inexpensive and easily administered anthropometric methods were identified, for assessing AIS curvature. All methods demonstrated high to very high inter-observer and intra-observer reliability. Reported criterion validity of the scoliometer and 2D photographs, when compared to Cobb angle assessed from radiographs, ranged from low to very high. iPhone measurements correlated well with scoliometer measurements. 2D photography results had a moderate to high correlation with 3D topography results.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, strong levels of evidence exist for iPhone and scoliometer measurements, with a high to very high reliability and moderate to very high validity. Moderate levels of evidence exist for scoliometer with mathematical formula and clinical examination with moderate and low validity, respectively. Limited evidence exists for aesthetic tools TRACE and AI and 2D photography. These results indicate there are accurate and reproducible anthropometric measures that are inexpensive and applicable in therapy settings to assess postural asymmetry; however, these only exist for measurement in the transverse plane, despite 3D characteristics of AIS. Further research is required into an inexpensive and easily administered method that can assess postural asymmetry in all anatomical planes.