Unloader brace or high tibial osteotomy in the treatment of the young patient with medial knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.

Background And Purpose:  For medial knee osteoarthritis (OA), operative and nonoperative treatment options are available. Two widely applied unloading therapies are a valgus unloader brace and a high tibial osteotomy (HTO). We aimed to compare the effects of a valgus unloader knee brace with an HTO on knee pain after 1 year in patients with symptomatic medial knee OA.

Test-retest, intra- and inter-rater reliability of the reactive balance test in patients with chronic ankle instability.

Introduction: The Reactive Balance Test (RBT) could be a valuable addition to research on chronic ankle instability (CAI) and clinical practice, but before it can be used in clinical practice it needs to be reliable. It has already been proven reliable in healthy recreational athletes, but not yet in patients with CAI who have shown persistent deficits in dynamic balance. The study aimed to determine the test-retest, intra-, and inter-rater reliability of the RBT in patients with CAI, and the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the newly developed RBT score sheet.

Deficits in neurocognitive performance in patients with chronic ankle instability during a neurocognitive balance task - A retrospective case-control study.

Objectives: To assess the neurocognitive performance while maintaining balance of patients experiencing CAI compared to healthy controls. In patients with CAI, the affected limb was also compared to the contralateral limb.

Design: A retrospective case-control study.

Failure of artemether-lumefantrine therapy in travellers returning to Belgium with Plasmodium falciparum malaria: an observational case series with genomic analysis.

Background: Failure of artemisinin-based combination therapy is increasingly reported in patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to describe the clinical and genomic characteristics of recent cases of P. falciparum malaria failing artemether-lumefantrine in Belgium.

Do the International Competencies of the Sports Physical Therapist need Updating?

In 2005, the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (IFSPT) published the Sports Physiotherapy for All project (SPA)(1) which defined four key Roles and 11 Competencies a sports physical therapist should have, setting the standards for international education ever since. The aim of this international perspective is to reflect on the IFSPT competencies of a sports physical therapist and explore the need for an update.

Presymptomatic viral shedding in high-risk mpox contacts: A prospective cohort study.

The risk of infection after exposure to clade IIb mpox virus (MPXV) is unknown, and potential presymptomatic shedding of MPXV remains to be demonstrated. High-risk contacts of mpox patients were followed-up in a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Individuals reporting sexual contact, >15 min skin-to-skin contact, or living in the same household with an mpox patient were recruited in a sexual health clinic in Antwerp, Belgium.

Brain Neuroplasticity Related to Lateral Ankle Ligamentous Injuries: A Systematic Review.

Background: Lateral ankle sprains are the most common ankle injuries in sports and have the highest recurrence rates. Almost half of the patients experiencing lateral ankle sprains develop chronic ankle instability. Patients with chronic ankle instability experience persistent ankle dysfunctions and detrimental long-term sequelae.

Evaluation of the AIX1000 Automated Rapid Plasma Reagin Assay in a High-Prevalence Setting.

Background: Manually performed nontreponemal assays, such as rapid plasma reagin (RPR), are labor intensive and time consuming. Recently, commercial automated RPR assays gained attention. The aim of this study was to compare the qualitative and quantitative performance of the AIX1000 (RPR-A; Gold Standard Diagnostics) to a manual RPR test (RPR-M; Becton Dickinson Macrovue) within a high-prevalence setting.

Characterizing fall risk factors in Belgian older adults through machine learning: a data-driven approach.

Background: Falls are a major problem associated with ageing. Yet, fall-risk classification models identifying older adults at risk are lacking. Current screening tools show limited predictive validity to differentiate between a low- and high-risk of falling.

Most amateur football teams do not implement essential components of neuromuscular training to prevent anterior cruciate ligament injuries and lateral ankle sprains.

Purpose: Neuromuscular training (NMT) is effective at reducing football injuries. The purpose of this study was to document the use of NMT to prevent anterior cruciate ligament injuries and lateral ankle sprains in adult amateur football and to identify barriers for using NMT.

Methods: A preseason and in-season online survey was completed by players and coaches of 164 football teams.

The Non-injured Leg Can Be Used as a Reference for the Injured Leg in Single-legged Hop Tests.

Background: Single-legged hop tests are frequently used in substantiating return to sport decisions following lower extremity injury. Evidence for using the non-injured leg as a reference for the injured leg in the return to sport decision-making at the criterion-based point of return to sport following lower extremity injury is lacking.

Purpose: To compare absolute values in single-legged hop tests between the non-injured leg of athletes returning to high-impact sports after lower extremity injury and the matched leg of healthy athletes.

Return to sport decisions after an acute lateral ankle sprain injury: introducing the PAASS framework-an international multidisciplinary consensus.

Background: Despite being the most commonly incurred sports injury with a high recurrence rate, there are no guidelines to inform return to sport (RTS) decisions following acute lateral ankle sprain injuries. We aimed to develop a list of assessment items to address this gap.

Methods: We used a three-round Delphi survey approach to develop consensus of opinion among 155 globally diverse health professionals working in elite field or court sports.

Pre- and postmatch hop test outcomes in soccer players returning to performance after lower extremity injury.

Background: Most soccer injuries concern the lower extremity with a higher injury rate during the second half of matches. In advising safe return to sport, hop tests are usually assessed at the point of return to sport under non-fatigued conditions. No studies exist investigating hop test outcomes before and after a match in soccer players returning to performance after lower extremity injury and non-injured teammates.

An Exploratory Meta-Analytic Review on the Empirical Evidence of Differential Learning as an Enhanced Motor Learning Method.

Differential learning (DL) is a motor learning method characterized by high amounts of variability during practice and is claimed to provide the learner with a higher learning rate than other methods. However, some controversy surrounds DL theory, and to date, no overview exists that compares the effects of DL to other motor learning methods. To evaluate the effectiveness of DL in comparison to other motor learning methods in the acquisition and retention phase.

T mapping of healthy knee cartilage: multicenter multivendor reproducibility.

Background: T mapping is increasingly used to quantify cartilage degeneration in knee osteoarthritis (OA), yet reproducibility studies in a multicenter setting are limited. The purpose of this study was to determine the longitudinal reproducibility and multicenter variation of cartilage T mapping, using various MRI equipment and acquisition protocols.

Methods: In this prospective multicenter study, four traveling, healthy human subjects underwent T mapping twice at five different centers with a 6-month-interval.

The interaction of acute physical fatigue with three traditional functional performance tests and the reactive balance test.

Objectives: To assess the impact of acute physical fatigue on traditional and neurocognitive functional performance tests in recreational athletes.

Design: randomized counterbalanced cross-over study, pre-post design SETTING: laboratory PARTICIPANTS: Twenty recreational athletes (age = 24 ± 3 years) MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We evaluated fatigue impairments following a 30 s all-out effort in three traditional and one neurocognitive functional performance test. The traditional functional performance tests encompassed the single leg hop for distance (SLH), countermovement jump (CMJ) and Y-balance test (YBT).

Mental Fatigue and Sport-Specific Psychomotor Performance: A Systematic Review.

Background: Mental fatigue (MF) is a psychobiological state that impairs endurance performance in healthy athletes. Recently, multiple studies indicated that MF could also impair sport-specific psychomotor performance (SSPP). Nevertheless, a systematic overview detailing the effects of MF on SSPP is currently lacking.

T2 relaxation times of knee cartilage in 109 patients with knee pain and its association with disease characteristics.

Background and purpose - Quantitative T2 mapping MRI of cartilage has proven value for the assessment of early osteoarthritis changes in research. We evaluated knee cartilage T2 relaxation times in a clinical population with knee complaints and its association with patients and disease characteristics and clinical symptoms.Patients and methods - In this cross-sectional study, T2 mapping knee scans of 109 patients with knee pain who were referred for an MRI by an orthopedic surgeon were collected.

Association between Functional Performance and Return to Performance in High-Impact Sports after Lower Extremity Injury: A Systematic Review.

After lower extremity injury, only half of the injured athletes return to their pre-injury sports level. Even though functional performance tests are often used to make return to sport decisions, it is unknown whether functional performance is associated with return to performance after such injuries. The aim of this systematic review was to identify, critically appraise, and analyze studies that investigated the association of functional performance tests with return to performance after lower extremity injuries in athletes participating in high-impact sports.

Test-retest, intra- and inter-rater reliability of the reactive balance test in healthy recreational athletes.

Objective: The reactive balance test (RBT) is a recently developed neurocognitive balance test. The aim of this study was to determine test-retest, intra- and inter-rater reliability of the RBT in healthy recreational athletes.

Design: Reliability study design.

Acquired C1-inhibitor deficiency due to splenic marginal zone lymhoma: Case Report.

We present the case of a 67-year-old woman who suffered recurrent episodes of angioedema of the face and larynx. After thorough biochemical investigations, an acquired deficiency of C1-INH was suspected. To evaluate a potential underlying malignancy, a whole-body FDG-PET/CT was performed and showed solely a marked splenomegaly pointing towards a splenic marginal zone lymphoma, which was confirmed by pathological examination.

Does Mental Fatigue Negatively Affect Outcomes of Functional Performance Tests?

Purpose: Mental fatigue impairs psychomotor skill performance by affecting visuomotor reaction time, accuracy, and decision-making. Recently, neurocognitive functional performance tests (FPT) that integrate these outcomes have been developed. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of mental fatigue on traditional and neurocognitive FPT in healthy adults.