Changes in spastic muscle tone increase in patients with spinal cord injury using functional electrical stimulation and passive leg movements.

Objective: Comparison of cycling interventions to reduce spastic muscle tone increase in patients with spinal cord injury.

Setting: Neuroprosthetic outpatient clinic in a university hospital.

Methods: Five patients with spinal cord injury took part in a crossover study in which the lower limbs (1) were stimulated by functional neuromuscular electrical stimulation (FES) to induce leg cycling movements and (2) were passively moved by an ergometer machine.

Peripheral repetitive magnetic stimulation induces intracortical inhibition in healthy subjects.

Objective: Repetitive magnetic stimulation (rMS) is mainly used in transcranial applications. Only a few works have described its potential peripheral use. The aim of this investigation was to determine if conditioning peripheral (paravertebral) rMS of the cervical nerve roots in a group of healthy subjects induces changes in motor cortical excitability.

FES cycling reduces spastic muscle tone in a patient with multiple sclerosis.

We report on a multiple sclerosis patient who received functional electrical stimulation to reduce spastic muscle tone of the lower limbs. Stimulation by means of surface electrodes applied to the thigh muscles induced cycling leg movements. Spastic muscle tone was measured clinically using the modified Ashworth scale and semiautomatically by pendulum testing of spasticity.

Botulinum toxin type-A therapy in cluster headache: an open study.

The objective of this open single-centre study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of botulinum toxin type-A (BTX-A) as add-on in the prophylactic treatment of cluster headache (CH). Twelve male patients with episodic (n=3) or chronic (n=9) CH, unresponsive to common prophylactic medications, were treated with a cumulative dose of 50 International Units (IU) BTX-A according to a standardised injection scheme into the ipsilateral pericranial muscles. One patient with chronic CH experienced a total cessation of attacks and in 2 patients attack intensity and frequency improved.

Functional output improvement in FES cycling by means of forced smooth pedaling.

Purpose: Investigation of the influence of forced smooth and normal (nonsmooth) pedaling on the functional output of outdoor functional neuromuscular electrical stimulation (FES)-propelled cycling of spinal cord-injured subjects.

Subjects: Twelve subjects with complete spinal cord injury (T4-T12) and limited previous FES training.

Method: Each subject participated in two separate outdoor sessions: once while pedaling a tricycle in a fixed gear, and a second time while free pedaling the same tricycle; both times with FES.

Low-frequency rectangular pulse is superior to middle frequency alternating current stimulation in cycling of people with spinal cord injury.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of using modulated middle frequency alternating current (MFAC) muscle stimulation for functional electric stimulation-propelled cycling by people with spinal cord injury (SCI) compared with the conventional method of using standard low-frequency rectangular pulses (LFRP).

Design: Repeated-measures.

Setting: Laboratory setting.

TMS motor cortical brain mapping in patients with complex regional pain syndrome type I.

Objective: The motor cortical representation in patients with complex regional pain syndrome type I (CRPS I) was determined under the assumption that the motor cortex undergoes representational adaptations in the course of CRPS.

Methods: A total of 14 patients with CRPS I and a group of healthy subjects without any known neurological symptoms participated in the study. The motor cortical representation, i.

Effects of conditioning peripheral repetitive magnetic stimulation in patients with complex regional pain syndrome.

Objectives: We tested whether repetitive magnetic stimulation (rMS) induces an afferent input to the spinocerebral tract in patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

Methods: Cortical and spinal motor evoked potentials (cMEP and sMEP), as well as the contra- and ipsilateral silent period (cCSP and iCSP), were recorded in patients with CRPS type I before and after conditioning rMS, applied at cervical nerve roots innervating affected muscles. Patients were compared with a group of healthy subjects.

Reduction of spastic tone increase induced by peripheral repetitive magnetic stimulation is frequency-independent.

Repetitive magnetic stimulation is able to reduce spastic tone increase after applying it at the spinal cord. It was also found to induce frequency-dependent changes in H-reflex. In a small pilot investigation we stimulated a patient with severe spasticity of the lower limbs and applied different stimulation frequencies.