: Femoral neck fractures are rare but serious injuries in children and adolescents, often resulting from high-energy trauma and prone to complications like avascular necrosis (AVN) and nonunion. Even rarer is the development of slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) following femoral neck fracture, which presents unique diagnostic and treatment challenges. SCFE can destabilize the femoral head, with severe cases requiring complex surgical interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: Telemedicine is a vital tool for enhancing healthcare accessibility and outcomes at reduced costs. This study aimed to assess the usability of the Maia Connected Care telemedicine platform for managing spasticity in patients receiving botulinum toxin type-A, focusing on the perspectives of Italian physiatrists with expertise in this treatment. (2) Methods: Conducted from March 2023 to June 2023, this multicenter survey involved 15 Italian physicians who used the platform for teleconsultations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Lower limb length discrepancy (LLD) in children and adolescents, often due to congenital or acquired conditions, is treated to achieve limb equality and alignment, optimizing function and minimizing cosmetic concerns for an active adulthood. This study evaluated the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and physical functioning of adults who underwent unilateral limb lengthening with circular external fixators (EFs) in childhood.
Methods: Fifty patients treated at a median age of 14.
: Infantile tibia vara (ITV) is a rare proximal tibia deformity in infancy, leading to progressive knee varus. High tibial osteotomy is commonly practiced but has high recurrence rates. This study analyzed factors affecting treatment failure and recurrence in children undergoing opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO) for ITV.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisabil Rehabil Assist Technol
November 2024
Background: Despite the widely recognised benefits of assistive technology (AT) in everyday life, AT abandonment rate due to unmet user needs or expectations is high. World Health Organisation emphasised the importance of evaluating AT outcomes as a top research priority, but comprehensive approaches to assess users' needs and AT impact are still limited.
Aim: The research study OMAT (outcomes of mobility assistive technology in rehabilitation pathways) aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a new AT assessment protocol for mobility AT, spanning from an initial evaluation of users' and relatives' needs to a follow-up after real-world use of assistive products (APs).
(1) Background: Orthopedic surgery has been transformed by 3D-printed personalized instruments (3DP-PSIs), which enhance precision and reduce complications. Hospitals are adopting in-house 3D printing facilities, using cost-effective methods like Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) with materials like Polylactic acid (PLA) to create 3DP-PSI. PLA's temperature limitations can be overcome by annealing High-Temperature PLA (ann-HTPLA), enabling steam sterilization without compromising properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
July 2024
Background: Several earlier studies showed a female predominance in idiopathic adult-onset dystonia (IAOD) affecting the craniocervical area and a male preponderance in limb dystonia. However, sex-related differences may result from bias inherent to study design. Moreover, information is lacking on whether sex-related differences exist in expressing other dystonia-associated features and dystonia spread.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Guided-growth modulation is a first-line treatment widely adopted to correct lower-limb angular deformities and limb-length discrepancies (LLD) in the paediatric population.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the safety and performance of a new construct (8-Plate Plus or Guided-Growth Plate System Plus, Orthofix S.r.
(1) Background: The adoption of Virtual Surgical Planning (VSP) and 3D technologies is rapidly growing within the field of orthopedic surgery, opening the door to highly innovative and individually tailored surgical techniques. We present an innovative correction approach successfully used in a child affected by "windswept deformity" of the knees. (2) Methods: We report a case involving a child diagnosed with "windswept deformity" of the knees.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Blount's disease is a growth disorder of the proximal tibia that causes progressive genu varum in children. Surgical treatment is recommended if the deformity worsens, but which intervention is best remains controversial. This study aims to identify factors influencing outcomes and determine the most effective surgical approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of external fixators (EFs) for lower limb lengthening is common for treating lower limb length discrepancy (LLD) in children. The concern at present revolves around extended treatment times, with some suggesting a healing index (HI) > 45 days/cm as a major complication. The aim of this study is to assess the factors affecting bone healing and treatment duration in children who undergo limb lengthening for LLD using circular EFs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell migration requires a complex array of molecular events to promote protrusion at the front of motile cells. The scaffold protein LL5β interacts with the scaffold ERC1, and recruits it at plasma membrane-associated platforms that form at the front of migrating tumor cells. LL5 and ERC1 proteins support protrusion during migration as shown by the finding that depletion of either endogenous protein impairs tumor cell motility and invasion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper presents the use of a parametric design platform and 3D printing to create personalized assistive devices (ADs) for individuals with cerebral palsy, specifically a fork/spoon holder. Five subjects participated in the study, each receiving a customized device to fit their dominant hand, and they tested both the 3D printed device and a commercially available one. The devices were evaluated based on functionality and satisfaction using two standard clinical questionnaires (IPPA and QUEST 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: The application of computer-aided planning in the surgical treatment of post-traumatic forearm deformities has been increasingly widening the range of techniques over the last two decades. We present the "flipping-wedge osteotomy", a promising geometrical approach to correct uniapical deformities defined during our experience with virtual surgical planning (VSP); (2) Methods: a case of post-traumatic distal radius deformity (magnitude 43°) treated with a flipping-wedge osteotomy in an 11-year-old girl is reported, presenting the planning rationale, its geometrical demonstration, and the outcome of the procedure; (3) Results: surgery achieved correction of both the angular and rotational deformities with a neutral ulnar variance; (4) Conclusions: flipping-wedge osteotomy may be a viable option to achieve correction in forearm deformities, and it deserves further clinical investigation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Digital fabrication, like 3D printing, is a new opportunity for rehabilitation professionals to produce customized assistive devices. It allows for empowerment and collaboration in device procurement, but practical implementations are scarcely described. We describe the workflow, discuss feasibility and propose directions for future work.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patellar instability is the most common disorder of the knee during childhood and adolescence. Surgical treatment significantly reduces the rate of redislocation, but the underlying pathologies and pattern of instability may affect the results. We aimed to report the clinical and functional outcomes of the three-in-one procedure for patellar realignment in a cohort of skeletally immature patients with or without syndromes and various patterns of chronic patellar instability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aims to test the construct validity and reliability of the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with assistive Technology 2.0 (QUEST)-device, an eight-item questionnaire for measuring satisfaction with assistive devices. We collected 250 questionnaires from 79 patients and 32 caregivers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Musician's Focal Dystonia (MFD) is the most common adult-onset dystonia involving the hand and can cause a professional music career to end. MFD affects about 1% of professional musicians and is a challenging clinical condition to treat. This work aimed to validate the Technical Ability and Performing Scale (TAPS), a newly-developed patient-reported functional rating scale for the clinical assessment of the MFD burden.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmoothness (i.e. non-intermittency) of movement is a clinically important property of the voluntary movement with accuracy and proper speed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) parsimonious Generic set can provide identification of functional profiles and recovery after rehabilitation in persons post stroke.
Aim: To explore concurrent validity of the ICF Generic-6_Functioning score with the Barthel Index (BI) and responsiveness after rehabilitation in persons post stroke. Further, the feasibility of applying the ICF Brief Stroke Core set in routine rehabilitation recovery was evaluated.
Networks of scaffold proteins and enzymes assemble at the interface between the cytosol and specific sites of the plasma membrane, where these networks guide distinct cellular functions. Some of these plasma membrane-associated platforms (PMAPs) include shared core components that are able to establish specific protein-protein interactions, to produce distinct supramolecular assemblies regulating dynamic processes as diverse as cell adhesion and motility, or the formation and function of neuronal synapses. How cells organize such dynamic networks is still an open question.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn literature there is a growing evidence that in cervical dystonia (CD) rehabilitation, both in person and remotely, is an efficacious add on treatment to botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) injections, but there is no consensus about protocols. We present here two rehabilitation programs implemented by our neuro-rehabilitative multidisciplinary team. The enclosed video clips show exercises to be performed at home as self-rehabilitation program, and exercises presented by a physiotherapist for a telerehabilitation program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the "modified graded motor imagery" (mGMI) protocol as a rehabilitative treatment of musician's focal dystonia (MFD).
Methods: Six musicians with MFD (age 43.83±17.