Visual experience affects handedness.

In birds, a lateralised visual input during early development importantly modulates morphological and functional asymmetries of vision. We tested the hypothesis that human handedness similarly results from a combination of inborn and experience-driven factors by analysing sidedness in children suffering from congenital muscular torticollis. These children display a permanently tilted asymmetric head posture to the left or to the right in combination with a contralateral rotation of face and chin, which could lead to an increased visual experience of the hand contralateral to the head-tilt.

Lack of efficacy of manual therapy in children and adolescents with suspected cervicogenic headache: results of a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, and blinded trial.

Objective: Clinical trials concerning cervical spine manipulation and mobilization in children and adolescents with cervicogenic headache are lacking.

Methods: We performed a multicenter, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, and blinded trial in 52 children and adolescents (21 boys, 31 girls) aged 7-15. After prospective baseline documentation for 2 months patients were either assigned to placebo or true manipulation with another 2-month follow-up.

Subcutaneous Taenia crassiceps infection in a patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Infections with larvae of Taenia crassiceps are rare in humans and have mostly affected patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. We report the first case of a patient with malignancy (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) and infection of the subcutis and muscles of the hand and forearm. Surgery and antiparasitic chemotherapy led to a complete cure.

[Optimizing the nursing process by new management instruments. The Northern Germany Nursing Research Network].

The Northern Germany Nursing Research Network (Pflegeforschungsverbund Nord) has dedicated itself to developing management instruments intended to optimize the nursing process. It is coordinated by the administrative office of the Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research (Institut für Public Health und Pflegeforschung IPP, director: Prof. Dr.

Phase III study of all-trans retinoic acid in previously untreated patients 61 years or older with acute myeloid leukemia.

The purpose of our study was (i) to evaluate the impact of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) given as adjunct to chemotherapy and (ii) to compare second consolidation vs maintenance therapy in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). A total of 242 patients aged >or=61 years (median, 66.6 years) with AML were randomly assigned to ATRA beginning on day +3 after the initiation of chemotherapy (ATRA-arm, n=122) or no ATRA (standard-arm, n=120) in combination with induction and first consolidation therapy.

[The role of perforating vein dissection in the treatment concept of venous ulcers--myths and evidence].

Crural ulcers represent the most serious form of chronic venous incompetence (CVI). According to duplex studies superficial venous incompetence predominate in this stage of the disease, but combined refluxes of superficial and deep veins are also common. Despite a positive correlation between the number of incompetent perforators and the stage of CVI isolated incompetence of perforating veins in venous ulcers are rarely found.

Thrombolytic therapy in adult meningococcal purpura fulminans with acute renal failure and severe perfusion deficits to the extremities.

Objective: To investigate whether systemic administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator would improve organ perfusion in an adult patient with fulminant meningococcal disease.

Design: Descriptive case report.

Patient: A 45-year-old female with meningococcal septic shock, purpura fulminans and multiple organ failure who was treated in an eight-bed medical intensive care unit of a University hospital.

High cervical stress and apnoea.

The aim of this study was to investigate vegetative reactions in infants after mechanical irritation of the suboccipital region. The investigation is based on 199 infants who were observed while being treated with a suboccipital impulse (manual therapy). The results revealed vegetative reactions in more than half of all cases (52.

Two-point discrimination of vibratory perception on the sole of the human foot.

The capability for discrimination of vibratory stimuli of the sole of the foot was tested on 12 subjects (6 men, 6 women). Two vibratory stimuli (sinusoidal impulse: frequency, 200 Hz; amplitude, 0.1 mm; duration, 2 sec) were applied at different sites to the sole of the foot.

Electromyography and chronic pain: do current electromyographic diagnostic techniques discriminate against injured female workers?

EMG recordings, typically obtained in biofeedback training sessions, tend to underestimate actual muscle activity in overweight and female pain patients. If unadjusted, these measures will likely result in erroneous diagnostic conclusions.

Electromyographic recordings of paraspinal muscles: variations related to subcutaneous tissue thickness.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect on EMG amplitude measures of variations in the thickness of underlying tissue between surface electrodes and the active muscle. 20 normal subjects with different amounts of subcutaneous tissue performed comparable constant force contractions for a 45-second period, during which paraspinal EMG recordings were taken. Three measures of subcutaneous tissue thickness were obtained from each subject: Body Mass Index, total body fat as calculated by Durnin's formula, and skinfold thickness at the recording sites.

[Video-controlled, retroperitoneoscopic, lumbar sympathectomy and sympathicotomy].

Six patients with arterial occlusions of the legs underwent VRLS: a small incision is made in the flank, the retroperitoneum pushed aside with a 1.5-1-balloon catheter, the lumbar sympathicus endoscopically severed and/or partially excised with video assistance. The intervention was successful in all cases.

Electromyographic power spectrum analysis of the paraspinal muscles. Long-term reliability.

As a prerequisite to the use of electromyographic power spectral analysis of the paraspinal muscles as a low-back pain treatment outcome measure, the long-term reliability of the technique was assessed. The myoelectric signals of the multifidus and iliocostalis lumborum muscles of healthy sedentary women were analyzed with regard to spectral parameters during a constant-force contraction, before and after a 3-month period. Results indicated that for both muscles, estimates of initial median frequency and amplitude had high test/retest reliability, but that the recovery and left-right difference parameters were not stable.

[A new instrument for extirpation of PTFE vascular prostheses. Initial clinical experiences].

In seven patients in whom a PTFE prosthesis had to be removed (six arteriovenous dialysis shunts in the arm and one femoro-popliteal by-pass), surgery was performed with the aid of a newly developed prosthesis removal device. This device consists of a guide rod that is inserted in the prosthesis while a second, chisel-like extension with a sharp cutting edge is advanced along the exterior of the prosthesis to separate it from the tissue. With this technique, up to 17-cm-long segments were extirpated subcutaneously.

Changes in paraspinal electromyographic spectral analysis with exercise: Two studies.

It has been suggested, but not substantiated, that electromyographic (EMG) power spectrum (PS) analysis of the paraspinal muscles could be a useful method of evaluating low back pain treatment outcome. The use of PS analysis to measure paraspinal muscle adaptations was investigated in two studies: Study 1, involving previously sedentary healthy women who participated in a 12-week fitness class program, and Study 2, involving low back pain sufferers who participated in a 10-week back-care exercise program. All subjects underwent assessments of physical fitness (aerobic capacity, back strength, and flexibility) and EMG PS analysis of the multifidus and iliocostalis muscles (during a constant force contraction), before and after the experimental period.

A method for assessing the equivalence of repeated measures of muscle fatigue rates estimated from EMG power spectrum analysis.

This report addresses some of the statistical problems that are encountered when the test/retest recording reliability of fatigue-related parameters of the EMG power spectrum is evaluated. It can be shown that some classical methods for reliability assessment such as correlational procedures are unsuitable for this purpose. Because the EMG power spectrum fatigue parameter depends on metabolic changes in muscle tissue, it is suggested that methods similar to those used in the evaluation of bioequivalence studies may be more appropriate in the assessment of such test/retest results.

Muscle fibre directions of iliocostalis and multifidus: male-female differences.

The accuracy with which the fibre direction of the multifidus muscle can be predicted in females is comparable to that for males, and is well within the limits of accuracy obtainable in the placement of surface electrodes in relation to a reference line drawn on the skin, i.e. +/- 5 degrees.

Power spectrum analyses of electromyographic activity. Discriminators in the differential assessment of patients with chronic low-back pain.

Some parameters of the electromyographic power spectrum of the paraspinal muscles were recorded and analyzed with regard to their ability to discriminate between normal controls and patients with back pain classified as "avoiders" or "confronters" by their responses to the Pain Behavior Checklist. In terms of the activity of the multifidus muscle, the avoider group displayed spectral changes towards lower frequencies, reduced variability in the density spectrum, and higher values of estimated initial frequencies. Measures of the activity of the iliocostalis lumborum did not contribute in any significant way to these group differences.

Weight-lifting in a postural restraining device: a reliable method to generate paraspinal constant force contractions.

Epidemiological studies have shown correlations between muscular deficiencies (low endurance capacity) and low back pain. With the emergence of new electromyographic surface recording methodologies (power spectrum investigations), a renewed interest in the electromyographic signal during sustained muscular contractions can be observed. A technique is described which is acceptable to chronic low back pain patients and which creates comparable constant force contractions in normal controls and pain patients.