Using the gross motor function measure evolution ratio to compare different dosage of hyperbaric treatment with conventional therapies in children with cerebral palsy - could it end the controversy?

Unlabelled: The Gross Motor Function Measure is used in most studies measuring gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy. In many studies, including those evaluating the effect of hyperbaric treatment, the Gross Motor Function Measure variations were potentially misinterpreted because of the lack of control groups. The Gross Motor Function Measure Evolution Ratio (GMFMER) uses historical data from the Gross Motor Function Classification System curves and allows to re-analyze previous published studies which used the Gross Motor Function Measure by considering the natural expected evolution of the Gross Motor Function Measure.

Comparison of intrathecal baclofen pump insertion and selective dorsal rhizotomy for nonambulatory children with predominantly spastic cerebral palsy.

Objective: In nonambulatory children with predominantly spastic cerebral palsy (CP), the authors compared care needs, symptom burden, and complications after surgical treatment with either intrathecal baclofen (ITB) pump insertion or selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR). The patients were treated at two Canadian centers with variability in practice pertaining to these surgical options.

Methods: The authors performed a retrospective analysis of nonambulatory children with predominantly spastic quadriplegic or diplegic CP who underwent treatment with ITB or SDR.

Short Walking Exercise Leads to Gait Changes and Muscle Fatigue in Children With Cerebral Palsy Who Walk With Jump Gait.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate kinematic changes and muscle fatigue in jump gait during a walking exercise and the relationship between kinematic changes and muscle fatigue and strength.

Design: This preliminary study included 10 children with cerebral palsy who walk with jump gait. Hip and knee maximal isometric muscle strength were measured using a dynamometer.

Relationship between lower limb strength and walking capacities in children with spastic bilateral cerebral palsy.

Purpose: Evaluate the relationship between different walking capacities and muscle strength in children with bilateral cerebral palsy (BCP) and assess these relationships in stronger and weaker children.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-two children with spastic BCP were included. All participants walked under three speed conditions: comfortable, fast, and for a longer period (6 min).

Stress in Parents of Children With Genetically Determined Leukoencephalopathies: A Pilot Study.

Genetically determined leukoencephalopathies comprise a group of rare inherited white matter disorders. The majority are progressive diseases resulting in early death. We performed a cross-sectional pilot study including 55 parents from 36 families to assess the level of stress experienced by parents of patients with genetically determined leukoencephalopathies, aged 1 month to 12 years.

Muscle fatigue during a short walking exercise in children with cerebral palsy who walk in a crouch gait.

Background: A deterioration of crouch gait was found in a group of children with cerebral palsy (CP) after a short walking exercise. The increased knee flexion reported after a continuous walk could be related with muscle fatigue and muscle strength.

Aim: Does muscle fatigue appears at the end of a walking exercise in children with CP who walk in a crouch gait?

Methods: Eleven children with cerebral palsy (GMFCS I to III) who walk in a crouch gait were included.

Lower limb extension is improved in fast walking condition in children who walk in crouch gait.

The strategies for walking fast have never been reported in children with cerebral palsy who walk in crouch gait. This study aimed to assess to what extent children who walk in crouch gait are able to increase their gait speed and to report the corresponding three-dimensional kinematic adaptations. Eleven children and adolescents (aged between 7 and 17years) with bilateral cerebral palsy, who walk in crouch gait, were asked to walk at their self-selected comfortable speed and then as fast as possible without running.

Impact of a short walking exercise on gait kinematics in children with cerebral palsy who walk in a crouch gait.

Background: Crouch gait results in an increase of the joint stress due to an excessive knee flexion. Daily walking exercises, even when performed at a self-selected speed, may result in a decrease of the extensor muscle strength which could lead to a more severe crouch gait pattern. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a short walking exercise on gait kinematics in children with cerebral palsy who walk with a crouch gait.

Gross Motor Function Measure Evolution Ratio: Use as a Control for Natural Progression in Cerebral Palsy.

Objective: To develop a new way to interpret Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66) score improvement in studies conducted without control groups in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Design: The curves, which describe the pattern of motor development according to the children's Gross Motor Function Classification System level, were used as historical control to define the GMFM-66 expected natural evolution in children with CP. These curves have been modeled and generalized to fit the curve to particular children characteristics.

Intensive rehabilitation combined with HBO2 therapy in children with cerebral palsy: a controlled longitudinal study.

Objective: The present study aimed to assess the effect of intensive rehabilitation combined with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy on gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Methods: We carried out an open, observational, platform-independent study in 150 children with cerebral palsy with follow-up over eight months to compare the effects of standard intensive rehabilitation only (control group n = 20) to standard intensive rehabilitation combined with one of three different hyperbaric treatments. The three hyperbaric treatments used were: air (FiO2 = 21%) pressurized to 1.

Neuropsychological effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in cerebral palsy.

We conducted a double-blind placebo study to investigate the claim that hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBO2) improves the cognitive status of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Of 111 children diagnosed with CP (aged 4 to 12 years), only 75 were suitable for neuropsychological testing, assessing attention, working memory, processing speed, and psychosocial functioning. The children received 40 sessions of HBO2 or sham treatment over a 2-month period.

Hyperbaric oxygen for children with cerebral palsy: a randomised multicentre trial. HBO-CP Research Group.

Background: The use of hyperbaric oxygen for children with cerebral palsy has spread worldwide, despite little scientific evidence of efficacy. We did a randomised trial to assess the efficacy and side-effects of this form of therapy in children with cerebral palsy.

Methods: 111 children with cerebral palsy aged 3-12 years were randomly assigned hyperbaric oxygen (n=57) or slightly pressurised room air (n=54).

Effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy: a pilot project.

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy for children with cerebral palsy (CP) is not new. Research documenting the effects in this population has been anecdotal. We evaluated the effects of HBO2 therapy for 25 children (X = 5.

[The influence of previous infections on the development of experimental swine pleuropneumonia in specific pathogen free pigs].

This study was designed to determine in six-week old specific pathogen free pigs, the effect of previous experimental exposure to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and transmissible gastroenteritis virus on a challenge infection with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. Pigs exposed simultaneously to M. hyopneumoniae and transmissible gastroenteritis virus appeared more resistant to challenge (one week later) with A.

Enzootic pneumonia in feeder pigs: Association with transmissible gastroenteritis virus infection.

Infection with transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) was present in some pigs on arrival at a feeder pig farm and was well established three weeks later. TGE infection preceded Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infection, which was not detected until three weeks after arrival. Severe lesions of enzootic pneumonia were observed at the end of the fattening period.

Enzootic pneumonia in feeder pigs: Observations on causal factors.

A number of factors were studied in eight feeder pig herds, affected with severe or mild enzootic pneumonia, in order to identify those associated with this disease. Piggeries with poor facilities and management and where procurement of piglets was from sales barns were more severely affected with enzootic pneumonia than were those with good facilities and where pigs originated directly from breeding units. Serological tests and virus isolation revealed that all herds had been exposed to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and to many viruses; transmissible gastroenteritis virus infection was the only viral infection that was apparently associated with the severity of enzootic pneumonia and the performance observed in the herds.

Association of bovine viral diarrhea virus with multiple viral infections in bovine respiratory disease outbreaks.

We investigated eleven outbreaks of naturally occurring bovine respiratory diseases in calves and adult animals in the St-Hyacinthe area of Quebec. Specific antibodies to bovine herpesvirus-1, bovine viral diarrhea virus, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza type 3 virus, reovirus type 3, and serotypes 1 to 7 of bovine adenovirus were found in paired sera from diseased animals. Several bovine viruses with respiratory tropism were involved concomitantly in herds during an outbreak of bovine respiratory disease.

Oral lecithin and linoleic acid in Friedreich's ataxia: I. Design of the study, material and methods.

A clinical and biochemical evaluation of twenty-two patients with Friedreich's Ataxia and ten normal controls was undertaken in 1980 to assess the effect of lecithin and linoleic acid supplements on the course of the disease. The trial consisted of two consecutive six months periods on either supplements in a double-blind crossover fashion. Clinical appraisal was performed with regards to the following parameters: joints mobility, muscle strength, equilibrium, coordination, motor accuracy, speech and numerous day to day activities.

Types of avian infectious bronchitis strains isolated in Quebec.

Between 1976 and 1980, 24 isolates of infectious bronchitis virus were obtained from Quebec flocks. The serological classification of these isolates was demonstrated by cross neutralization tests using antisera to 13 different reference virus strains. Of the 24 isolates, ten were identified as Connecticut, six Holland and one SE-17 types.