Effects of online frame-of-reference training on assessment accuracy in the objective structured clinical examination for physical therapy students.

Objectives: This study investigates how online frame-of-reference (FOR) training of raters of the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for physical therapy students affects assessment accuracy.

Methods: The research was conducted in a 1-month-long randomized controlled trial.

Participants: The participants were 36 physical therapists without experience assessing clinical skills using the OSCE.

Effects of ankle-foot orthosis on gait pattern and spatiotemporal indices during treadmill walking in hemiparetic stroke.

Ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) is known to correct abnormal gait patterns and improve walking stability and speed in patients with hemiparesis. To quantify these benefits in post-stroke gait, a three-dimensional motion analysis of gait pattern was conducted. Forty patients with hemiparesis were enrolled.

Effects of ankle-foot orthoses on the stability of post-stroke hemiparetic gait.

Background: Ankle-foot orthoses are used to improve gait stability in patients with post-stroke gait; however, there is not enough evidence to support their beneficial impact on gait stability.

Aim: To investigate the effects of ankle-foot orthoses on post-stroke gait stability.

Design: An experimental study with repeated measurements of gait parameters with and without orthosis.

Validity of quantitative assessment of posterior pelvic tilt and contralateral vaulting in hemiplegia using 3D treadmill gait analysis.

Background: Assessing abnormal gait patterns could indicate compensatory movements, which could be an index for recovery and a process of motor learning. To quantify the degree of posterior pelvic tilt, contralateral vaulting is necessary.

Objectives: This study aimed to develop and evaluate the validity of quantitative indices for posterior pelvic tilt and contralateral vaulting in hemiplegic patients.

Effects of clinical clerkship in education for physical and occupational therapy students: a multifaceted examination using objective indices.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effects of clinical clerkship in physical and occupational therapy students' education on their stress, sleep, and technical skill acquisition.

Methods: We compared responses to the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire and the Athens Insomnia Scale, and students' clinical training grades between a traditional clinical training group (n=48) and a clinical clerkship group (n=48).

Results: Compared with the traditional group, the clinical clerkship group showed significantly higher scores on the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire for quantitative and qualitative burden, and significantly lower scores for the extent of control over tasks, irritability, fatigue, depression, and physical ailment.

Gait characteristics of post-stroke hemiparetic patients with different walking speeds.

Hemiparesis resulting from stroke presents characteristic spatiotemporal gait patterns. This study aimed to clarify the spatiotemporal gait characteristics of hemiparetic patients by comparing them with height-, speed-, and age-matched controls while walking at various speeds. The data on spatiotemporal gait parameters of stroke patients and that of matched controls were extracted from a hospital gait analysis database.

The impact of ankle-foot orthoses on toe clearance strategy in hemiparetic gait: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) are frequently used to improve gait stability, toe clearance, and gait efficiency in individuals with hemiparesis. During the swing phase, AFOs enhance lower limb advancement by facilitating the improvement of toe clearance and the reduction of compensatory movements. Clinical monitoring via kinematic analysis would further clarify the changes in biomechanical factors that lead to the beneficial effects of AFOs.

Clinical-oriented Three-dimensional Gait Analysis Method for Evaluating Gait Disorder.

Three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA) is shown to be a useful clinical tool for the evaluation of gait abnormality due to movement disorders. However, the use of 3DGA in actual clinics remains uncommon. Possible reasons could include the time-consuming measurement process and difficulties in understanding measurement results, which are often presented using a large number of graphs.

Correction: Feasibility of a Simplified, Clinically Oriented, Three-dimensional Gait Analysis System for the Gait Evaluation of Stroke Patients.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2490/prm.20160001.

Biomechanical factors behind toe clearance during the swing phase in hemiparetic patients.

Background: The toe clearance of a paretic limb in the swing phase of gait is related to tripping, which is considered a major cause of falls. The biomechanical factors for obtaining toe clearance are more complicated in hemiparetic gait than that in normal gait because of the compensatory movements during swing phase. Understanding the biomechanical factors should help in targeting the point for rehabilitative interventions.

Diagnostic performance of a new endoscopic scraper for malignant biliary strictures: a multicenter prospective study.

Background And Aims: The efficacy of ERCP for histologic diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures is disappointingly low. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of a newly developed endoscopic device with scraping loops in combination with conventional biopsy forceps.

Methods: We performed a multicenter single-arm prospective study.

Feasibility of a Simplified, Clinically Oriented, Three-dimensional Gait Analysis System for the Gait Evaluation of Stroke Patients.

Objective: Although previous studies have evidenced the value of three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA) for evaluating gait disorder, the time-consuming measurement process and space requirement has hampered its use in the clinical setting. The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of a simplified 3DGA system for stroke patients.

Methods: Thirteen pairs of stroke patients and age- (± 1 year), gender-, and gait speed- (± 0.

Histologic diagnosis of pancreatic masses using 25-gauge endoscopic ultrasound needles with and without a core trap: a multicenter randomized trial.

Background And Study Aims: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) with 25-gauge needles yields small volume samples that are mainly processed for cytology. Using 25-gauge needles with a core trap may overcome this limitation. This trial compared 25-gauge needles with and without a core trap in terms of their ability to obtain histologic samples from solid pancreatic masses.

Quantitative assessment of retropulsion of the hip, excessive hip external rotation, and excessive lateral shift of the trunk over the unaffected side in hemiplegia using three-dimensional treadmill gait analysis.

Background: Gait assessment is important to determine the most effective strategy to regain gait function during stroke rehabilitation. To understand the mechanisms that cause abnormal gait patterns, it is useful to objectively identify and quantify the abnormal gait patterns. Objective assessment also helps evaluate the efficacy of treatments and can be used to provide suggestions for treatment.

Gastric atrophy and xanthelasma are markers for predicting the development of early gastric cancer.

Background: The significance of gastric xanthelasma in relation to gastric cancer still remains unclear. We investigated whether gastric xanthelasma would be a useful marker for predicting the development of early gastric cancer.

Methods: A total of 1823 patients who underwent a medical health checkup were enrolled.

[A case of α-fetoprotein-producing hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach with spontaneous rupture of multiple liver metastases].

An 85-year-old man with epigastric pain and anorexia was admitted to our hospital. His serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) and protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist II (PIVKA II) levels were markedly elevated. Gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a large mass near the fundus, and computed tomography revealed multiple liver tumors.

Clinical characteristics of collagenous colitis with linear ulcerations.

Background: The relationship between the thickness of subepithelial collagen bands (CB) and the development of linear ulcerations (LU) in collagenous colitis (CC) remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to compare the clinical and pathological features, including the thickness of CB, in CC patients with and without LU.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-five patients with CC diagnosed by pathological examination of biopsy specimens were analyzed.

Comparison of the efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and sorafenib for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

The aim of the present study was to compare overall survival between stage IVA or stage IVB hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who received transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and those who were treated with sorafenib. This retrospective comparative study included 55 patients with stage IVA or IVB HCC in whom TACE was performed as an initial treatment (the TACE group) and 56 patients with stage IVA or IVB HCC to whom sorafenib was administered (the sorafenib group). We compared the overall survival between these two groups.

The effect of long-term supplementation with branched-chain amino acid granules in patients with hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma after radiofrequency thermal ablation.

Goals: To elucidate whether long-term supplementation with branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) granules improves overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) after radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFA) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)≤3 cm in diameter with up to 3 nodules and a serum albumin level before RFA of ≤3.5 g/dL.

Background: Whether BCAA treatment after curative RFA for patients with HCV-related HCC improves OS and RFS remains unclear.

Radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma: the relationship between a new grading system for the ablative margin and clinical outcomes.

Background: In our previous study, we classified the radicality (R grading) of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy for single hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) according to the extent of the ablated margin, and demonstrated that this grading system was useful for predicting local tumor progression (LTP) after RFA. The aim of this study was to measure the overall survival (OS), the recurrence free survival (RFS), and the distant recurrence (DR) rate for each R grade (A-D), and to examine the relationship between clinical outcome and R grading.

Methods: This study involved 368 patients with solitary HCC who had undergone RFA.

Transcatheter arterial infusion chemotherapy prior to radiofrequency thermal ablation for single hepatocellular carcinoma reduces the risk of intrahepatic distant recurrence.

The aim of the present study was to elucidate the effectiveness of transcatheter arterial infusion chemotherapy (TAI) of the whole liver using an epirubicin-mitomycin-lipiodol emulsion, prior to radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFA), in preventing intrahepatic distant recurrence (IDR) from single hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Of the 269 consecutive patients who underwent RFA in our institute for single HCC, a total of 182 patients were analyzed in the present study. The primary endpoint was comparison of the post-RFA IDR-free survival rates in patients treated using TAI with an epirubicin-mitomycin-lipiodol emulsion via the proper hepatic artery (TAI-EML) prior to RFA, and patients that received lipiodol infusion-alone prior to RFA.

Branched-chain amino acid treatment before transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To examine the significance of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) treatment before transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: This study included 99 patients who underwent TACE therapy for HCC at our hospital and were followed up without treatment for at least 6 mo between January 2004 and January 2010. They were divided into 2 groups: those receiving BCAA granules (n = 40) or regular diet (n = 59, control).

The effect of pegylated interferon-alpha2b and ribavirin combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C infection in elderly patients.

Background: The clearance of hepatitis C virus infection by interferon therapy significantly reduces the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma and death in elderly chronic hepatitis patients. However, there are few reports concerning the efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon-alpha2b plus ribavirin combination therapy in elderly patients. The aims of the present study were to examine the effect and safety of pegylated interferon-alpha2b plus ribavirin combination therapy in 427 patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.

Sorafenib-induced acute interstitial pneumonia in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: report of three cases.

Little is known about acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) induced by sorafenib therapy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we present three patients with advanced HCC who developed AIP during sorafenib therapy, with fatal complications in two cases. Case 1 was a 76-year-old man who developed dyspnea.