The reliability of clinical tools with and without ultrasound guidance to measure leg-length inequality.

Purpose: To determine and compare the reliability and efficiency of various methods of leg-length measurement.

Methods: A total of 88 leg-lengths were measured among 50 subjects (79%-84% female, mean age = 30-33 years). Leg-lengths were measured in both supine and standing positions using multiple devices, including a tape measure, a LASER distance meter, and diagnostic ultrasound.

Passive hind-limb cycling improves cardiac function and reduces cardiovascular disease risk in experimental spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes altered autonomic control and severe physical deconditioning that converge to drive maladaptive cardiac remodelling. We used a clinically relevant experimental model to investigate the cardio-metabolic responses to SCI and to establish whether passive hind-limb cycling elicits a cardio-protective effect. Initially, 21 male Wistar rats were evenly assigned to three groups: uninjured control (CON), T3 complete SCI (SCI) or T3 complete SCI plus passive hind-limb cycling (SCI-EX; 2 × 30 min day(-1), 5 days week(-1) for 4 weeks beginning 6 days post-SCI).