Comparison of 3 instruments to measure muscle strength in children: A prospective study.

Aim: To establish which instrument is the most valid and reliable measure of muscle strength in children aged 4-11 years and can improve the diagnostic procedure in children with suspected myopathy to spare more of them from muscle biopsy.

Methods: In a prospective study over a 2 year period, 22 patients aged 4-11 years were recruited. They had all been referred to our specialist centre on the suspicion of myopathy.

Validity and reproducibility of the Jamar dynamometer in children aged 4-11 years.

Purpose: Validity and reproducibility of the Jamar dynamometer were evaluated in children aged 4-11 years.

Method: Hand grip strength was measured on the dominant side and non-dominant side in 67 patients who had been referred to our specialist centre in the past 3 years because of suspected myopathy. All the patients had had muscle biopsy.

A new motor performance test in a prospective study on children with suspected myopathy.

In the development of a new diagnostic motor performance test to spare more children from painful muscle biopsy, seven functional items were used to measure muscle strength and muscle endurance in a prospective study on new patients. Over a 2-year period, 22 patients (12 males, 10 females; mean age 8y 1mo [SD 2y 6mo], range 4-11y) were recruited for the study. They had all been referred with suspected myopathy.

Validity and reproducibility of hand-held dynamometry in children aged 4-11 years.

Objective: To evaluate validity and reproducibility of hand-held dynamometry in 11 different muscle groups in children.

Design And Patients: Maximum isometric muscle strength was measured with a calibrated hand-held dynamometer in 61 patients aged 4-11 years who had been referred to our specialist centre in the past 3 years because of suspected myopathy. All the patients had had muscle biopsy.

Validity and reproducibility of a new diagnostic motor performance test in children with suspected myopathy.

To spare more children from painful muscle biopsy, a new non-invasive diagnostic motor performance test is undergoing development. Fifteen functional items were used to measure muscle strength and muscle endurance in 68 patients (47 males, 21 females; mean age 7y 8mo, SD 2y 2mo; range 4 to 11y), who had been referred to our specialist centre in the past 3 years on suspicion of myopathy. All the patients had undergone muscle biopsy.

Primary central nervous system lymphomas: incidence and survival in the Southern and Eastern Netherlands.

Background: An excessive increase in the incidence of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) has been reported since the mid-1980s in the U.S. and U.