The effect of arm restriction on dynamic stability and upper-body responses to lateral loss of balance during walking: an observational study.

When losing balance, upper-body movements serve as mechanical aids to regain stability. However, it remains unclear how these movements contribute to dynamic stability during recovery from a lateral loss of balance while walking with arm restriction. We aimed to (i) quantify the effect of arm restriction on gait stability and upper-body velocities and (ii) characterize upper-body kinematic strategies in response to lateral surface translations under different arm restriction conditions.

[THE IMPORTANCE AND UNIQUENESS OF THE ONCOLOGICAL REHABILITATION PROCESS].

Rehabilitation is a holistic process that addresses the impairment that causes the disability and tries to restore optimal function. The incidence of cancer has been constantly increasing in recent years and thereby, the damage to the patients' quality of life, as a result of the disease and the oncological treatments. In an attempt to improve this, a unique branch of rehabilitation has been developing in recent years, specializing in improving patients' function throughout the entire disease trajectory, from the day of diagnosis to the most advanced stages.

Inpatient Rehabilitation is Effective for Severe Daily Activity Deficits Related to Chronic Low Back Pain.

Background And Objective: Chronic low back pain disability (CLBPD) is a syndrome that includes pain, disability, emotional impairments, and social problems. The study was conducted to examine the effect of an inpatient rehabilitation program on the performance of everyday life tasks (daily activities), and report on pain in CLBPD patients with primary activities of daily living (ADL) deficits.

Methods: In a retrospective cohort study, demographic and clinical data were retrieved from records of inpatients admitted consecutively to the program.

[THE CONTRIBUTION OF INPATIENT REHABILITATION IN ISRAEL TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF DAILY FUNCTIONING AFTER SPINAL CORD LESIONS].

Introduction: Spinal cord lesions (SCL) are usually followed by neurological and functional improvement. The neurological improvement is natural and improves the functional potential of the patients, while rehabilitation improves the realization of that potential. The functional change depends on the neurological change, and usually does not represent the contribution of rehabilitation alone to the functional improvement.

[DISSOCIATION BETWEEN DECLERATIVE AND PROCEDURAL MEMORY IN PATIENTS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY].

Introduction: Converging evidence from studies of patients suffering focal brain lesions and results from animal models led to the notion of two functionally and structurally distinct memory systems, declarative-explicit-episodic and procedural-implicit-skill.

Aims: Assessment of skill acquisition and procedural memory in patients after blunt traumatic brain injury (TBI) who suffer from deficit of explicit (episodic) memory in comparison to patients without such a deficit.

Methods: Comparison of skill acquisition in the Finger Opposition Sequence task in two patients after TBI presenting with episodic-explicit memory deficit to eight patients without such a deficit.

[IDENTIFYING BRAIN STRUCTURES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO UPPER-LIMB RECOVERY POST STROKE USING THREE DIFFERENT METHODS OF LESION-SYMPTOM MAPPING].

Aims: The identification of brain structures that are critical for upper limb residual motor function following stroke is an essential step towards the development of advanced treatment modalities for improving rehabilitation outcomes among brain-injured patients, such as non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, which aim to induce neuroplasticity in motor-critical brain regions. In the current study we attempted to identify the critical brain regions for upper limb motor function among stroke patients, using three different methods of lesion-symptom mapping (LSM).

Methods: Brain imaging data and Fugl-Meyer Assessment for upper-limb (FMA) scores for 107 patients admitted to the neurological rehabilitation department at Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center, were analyzed using 3 LSM methods: Voxel-based Lesion-Symptom Mapping (VLSM), Region-based Lesion-Symptom Mapping (RLSM), and Multi-perturbation Shapley-value Analysis (MSA).

The effect of cranioplasty on outcomes and complications of unresponsive wakefulness syndrome and minimally responsive state.

Background Studies that have shown neurological improvement following cranioplasty (CP) after decompressive craniectomy (DC) in patients with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and minimally conscious state (MCS) did not include control groups. The aim of this study was to assess the justification of CP for these patients. Methods Data were collected from medical records of inpatients with UWS and MCS admitted between 2002 and 2018.

Characteristics of unsuccessful reactive responses to lateral loss of balance in people with stroke.

Purpose: The effectiveness of reactive responses to a sudden loss of balance is a critical factor that determines whether a fall will occur. We examined the strategies and kinematics associated with successful and unsuccessful balance recovery following lateral loss of balance in people with stroke (PwS).

Methods: Eleven PwS were included in the analysis.

Kinematic descriptors of arm reaching movement are sensitive to hemisphere-specific immediate neuromodulatory effects of transcranial direct current stimulation post stroke.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) exerts beneficial effects on motor recovery after stroke, presumably by enhancement of adaptive neural plasticity. However, patients with extensive damage may experience null or deleterious effects with the predominant application mode of anodal (excitatory) stimulation of the damaged hemisphere. In such cases, excitatory stimulation of the non-damaged hemisphere might be considered.

Spatiotemporal variability after stroke reflects more than just slow walking velocity.

Background: Increased spatiotemporal gait variability is considered a clinical biomarker of ageing and pathology, and a predictor of future falls. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether the increased spatiotemporal variability observed in persons with stroke is directly related to the pathology or simply reflects their choice of walking velocity.

Research Question: Does increased spatiotemporal gait variability directly relate to motor coordination deficits after stroke?

Methods: Forty persons with stroke participated in this cross-sectional study.

The role of comprehensive rehabilitation in the care of degenerative cervical myelopathy.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To find out if comprehensive rehabilitation itself can improve daily performance in persons with DCM.

Setting: The spinal department of a rehabilitation hospital.

Efficacy of Intervention of Participation and Executive Functions (I-PEX) for Adults Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Preliminary Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Participation restrictions following traumatic brain injury are associated with executive function (EF) deficits (EFDs). The subacute recovery phase's specific characteristics (enhanced brain plasticity and impaired self-awareness) and contextual factors (inpatient setting) warrant adjusting cognitive rehabilitation protocols. The Intervention of Participation and Executive Functions (I-PEX) was designed to improve EFDs during subacute inpatient rehabilitation.

Profiles of executive functioning following traumatic brain injury and stroke using the assessment of participation and executive functions: combined cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.

Objectives: The Assessment of Participation and Executive Functions (A-PEX) evaluates executive functioning through daily participation in complex daily activities. This study examines its ability to discriminate between executive functioning profiles post-traumatic brain injury and post-stroke and its sensitivity to changes.

Design: Cross-sectional with a longitudinal component.

Enoxaparin for VTE thromboprophylaxis during inpatient rehabilitation care: assessment of the standard fixed dosing regimen.

Background: We aimed to examine the efficiency of fixed daily dose enoxaparin (40 mg) thromboprophylaxis strategy for patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation.

Methods: This was an observational, prospective, cohort study that included 63 hospitalized patients undergoing rehabilitative treatment following sub-acute ischemic stroke (SAIS) or spinal cord injury (SCI), with an indication for thromboprophylaxis. Anti-Xa level measured three hours post-drug administration (following three consecutive days of enoxaparin treatment or more) was utilised to assess in vivo enoxaparin activity.

Acute Presentation and Long-Term Rehabilitation Follow-Up of Ischemic Myelopathy Due to Clinically Suspected Fibrocartilaginous Embolism in an Adolescent Male: A Case Report and Review.

Ischemic myelopathy is uncommon in the pediatric population, with fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE) being one of its rarest causes. We present the case of an otherwise healthy 17-year-old student who experienced sudden onset of severe low-back pain amidst intensive physical training, which rapidly deteriorated to complete sensory-motor paralysis of his lower limbs. He was treated with IV Methylprednisolone and anticoagulation after the initial work-up suggested spinal cord infarction.

Lesion-behavior mapping indicates a strategic role for parietal substrates of associative memory.

Numerous neuroimaging studies indicate that ventral parietal cortex (VPC), especially angular gyrus, plays an important role in episodic memory. However, the nature of the mnemonic processes supported by this region is far from clear. We previously found that stroke lesions in VPC and lateral temporal cortex caused deficits in cued recall of unimodal word pairs and picture pairs, and cross-modal picture-sound pairs, with larger deficits in the cross-modal task.

Consistency of inconsistency in long-COVID-19 pain symptoms persistency: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Individuals recovering from acute COVID-19 episodes may continue to suffer from various ongoing symptoms, collectively referred to as Long-COVID. Long-term pain symptoms are amongst the most common and clinically significant symptoms to be reported for this post-COVID-19 syndrome.

Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the proportions of persisting pain symptoms experienced by individuals past the acute phase of COVID-19 and to identify their associated functional consequences and inflammatory correlates.

Venous thromboembolism and anticoagulation in spinal cord lesion rehabilitation inpatients: A 10-year retrospective study.

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a concern following the onset of spinal cord lesions (SCL).

Objectives: To assess the current efficacy and risks of anticoagulation after SCL and consider changes in thromboprophylaxis.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included individuals admitted to inpatient rehabilitation within 3 months of SCL onset.

A novel assessment of participation and executive functions (A-PEX) for traumatic brain injury: a validity study.

Background: Executive function deficits are a main cause of participation restrictions post-traumatic brain injury (TBI). Assessing executive functions through actual daily participation may provide valuable information for treatment planning and progress.

Aim: This study aimed to validate the Assessment of Participation and Executive Functions (A-PEX), a tool for evaluating executive function deficits through actual participation in the inpatient rehabilitation context during the subacute phase following TBI.

A multi-center international study on the spinal cord independence measure, version IV: Rasch psychometric validation.

Context: The Spinal Cord Independence Measure is a comprehensive functional rating scale for individuals with spinal cord lesion (SCL).

Objective: To validate the scores of the three subscales of SCIM IV, the fourth version of SCIM, using advanced statistical methods.

Study Design: Multi-center cohort study.

The effect of action observation combined with high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation on motor performance in healthy adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Action observation (AO) can improve motor performance in humans, probably the human mirror neuron system. In addition, there is some evidence that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can improve motor performance. However, it is yet to be determined whether AO combined with tDCS has an enhanced effect on motor performance.

Developmental and acquired brain injury have opposite effects on finger coordination in children.

The ability to coordinate finger forces to dexterously perform tasks develops in children as they grow older. Following brain injury, either developmental (as in cerebral palsy-CP) or acquired (as in traumatic brain injury-TBI), this developmental trajectory will likely be impaired. In this study, we compared finger coordination in a group of children aged 4-12 with CP and TBI to a group of typically developing children using an isometric pressing task.

Use of multi-perturbation Shapley analysis in lesion studies of functional networks: The case of upper limb paresis.

Understanding the impact of variation in lesion topography on the expression of functional impairments following stroke is important, as it may pave the way to modeling structure-function relations in statistical terms while pointing to constraints for adaptive remapping and functional recovery. Multi-perturbation Shapley-value analysis (MSA) is a relatively novel game-theoretical approach for multivariate lesion-symptom mapping. In this methodological paper, we provide a comprehensive explanation of MSA.

Skill-learning by observation-training with patients after traumatic brain injury.

Unlabelled: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability in Western society, and often results in functional and neuropsychological abnormalities. Memory impairment is one of the most significant cognitive implications after TBI. In the current study we investigated procedural memory acquisition by observational training in TBI patients.