Spinal Cord Tissue Bridges Validation Study: Predictive Relationships With Sensory Scores Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury.

Background: Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), widths of ventral tissue bridges demonstrated significant predictive relationships with future pinprick sensory scores, and widths of dorsal tissue bridges demonstrated significant predictive relationships with future light touch sensory scores, following spinal cord injury (SCI). These studies involved smaller participant numbers, and external validation of their findings is warranted.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to validate these previous findings using a larger independent data set.

Office-workers maintain decreased workplace sitting time long-term following participation in a sit-stand desk intervention study.

Previous studies report decreased workplace sitting time when standing desk interventions are provided to office workers. It is unclear whether decreased sedentary behaviours are maintained long-term. This was a follow-up to a previous intervention study to investigate whether observed sitting time decreases of 30-50% were sustained 12-24 months later.

Lateral Corticospinal Tract and Dorsal Column Damage: Predictive Relationships With Motor and Sensory Scores at Discharge From Acute Rehabilitation After Spinal Cord Injury.

Objective: To determine if lateral corticospinal tract (LCST) integrity demonstrates a significant predictive relationship with future ipsilateral lower extremity motor function (LEMS) and if dorsal column (DC) integrity demonstrates a significant predictive relationship with future light touch (LT) sensory function post spinal cord injury (SCI) at time of discharge from inpatient rehabilitation.

Design: Retrospective analyses of imaging and clinical outcomes.

Setting: University and academic hospital.

The influence of conventional T MRI indices in predicting who will walk outside one year after spinal cord injury.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indices of spinal cord damage are predictive of future motor function after spinal cord injury (SCI): hyperintensity length, midsagittal tissue bridges, and Brain and Spinal Injury Center (BASIC) scores. Whether these indices are predictive of outdoor walking after SCI is unknown. The primary purpose was to see if these MRI indices predict the ability to walk outdoors one-year after SCI.

Axial MRI biomarkers of spinal cord damage to predict future walking and motor function: a retrospective study.

Study Design: Retrospective.

Objectives: Primary: to assess if axial damage ratios are predictors of future walking after spinal cord injury (SCI), and if they add any predictive value if initial neurological impairment grades are available. Secondary: to determine if lateral spinal cord regions are predictors of future lower extremity motor scores (LEMS).

Fatty infiltration of the cervical multifidus musculature and their clinical correlates in spondylotic myelopathy.

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is among the most common spinal cord disorders of the elderly. Muscle fat infiltration (MFI), a potential pathological sign of muscle adiposity, may contribute to or be associated with pain/disability/impairments in patients with CSM. We examined the relationship between MFI and CSM's clinical manifestations by enrolling nine CSM patients and five aged-matched controls to undergo MRI imaging of the cervical spine with MFI.

Patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction exhibit altered movement strategies when performing a sit-to-stand task.

Of Background Data: The ability to rise from a chair is a basic functional task that is frequently compromised in individuals diagnosed with orthopedic disorders in the low back and hip. There is no published literature that describes how this task is altered by sacroiliac joint dysfunction (SIJD).

Purpose: The objective of this study was to compare lower extremity biomechanics and the onset of muscle activity when rising from a chair in subjects with SIJD and in healthy persons.

Lateral Corticospinal Tract Damage Correlates With Motor Output in Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between spinal cord damage and specific motor function in participants with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI).

Design: Single-blinded, cross-sectional study design.

Setting: University setting research laboratory.

Advancing imaging technologies for patients with spinal pain: with a focus on whiplash injury.

Background Context: Radiological observations of soft-tissue changes that may relate to clinical symptoms in patients with traumatic and non-traumatic spinal disorders are highly controversial. Studies are often of poor quality and findings are inconsistent. A plethora of evidence suggests some pathoanatomical findings from traditional imaging applications are common in asymptomatic participants across the life span, which further questions the diagnostic, prognostic, and theranostic value of traditional imaging.

Lower extremity muscle structure in incomplete spinal cord injury: a comparison between ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Introduction: Ultrasound (US) measures of muscle thickness are used in the management and monitoring of muscle changes during rehabilitation, but it is unknown how this measure compares to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Case Presentation: Six participants with incomplete SCI underwent US imaging and MRI of their gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles.

Discussion: Significant correlations were found between US muscle thickness and MRI CSA in the gastrocnemius (=0.

Ambulatory function in motor incomplete spinal cord injury: a magnetic resonance imaging study of spinal cord edema and lower extremity muscle morphometry.

Study Design: This research utilized a cross-sectional design.

Objectives: Spinal cord edema length has been measured with T2-weighted sagittal MRI to predict motor recovery following spinal cord injury. The purpose of our study was to establish the correlational value of axial spinal cord edema using T2-weighted MRI.

Multiplanar lumbopelvic control in patients with low back pain: is multiplanar assessment better than single plane assessment in discriminating between patients and healthy controls?

Objectives: Patients with low back pain (LBP) commonly have lumbopelvic control deficits. Lumbopelvic assessment during sagittal motion is incorporated into commonly used clinical examination algorithms for Treatment Based Classification. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether combined assessment of lumbopelvic control during sagittal and frontal plane motion discriminates between people with and without LBP better than single plane assessment alone.

Rater Reliability and Concurrent Validity of Single and Dual Bubble Inclinometry to Assess Cervical Lateral Flexion.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess interrater and intrarater reliability and validity for single inclinometry (SI) and dual inclinometry (DI) assessment of cervical lateral flexion (CLF) range of motion and compare reliability in a practicing physical therapist (PT) and student PTs (SPTs).

Methods: Twenty-four subjects performed right and left CLF while SI, DI, and 3-dimensional kinematics were concurrently recorded. Subjects were reassessed by 2 SPTs and 1 PT using both SI and DI.

Neuromuscular strategies for lumbopelvic control during frontal and sagittal plane movement challenges differ between people with and without low back pain.

Observation-based assessments of movement are a standard component in clinical assessment of patients with non-specific low back pain. While aberrant motion patterns can be detected visually, clinicians are unable to assess underlying neuromuscular strategies during these tests. The purpose of this study was to compare coordination of the trunk and hip muscles during 2 commonly used assessments for lumbopelvic control in people with low back pain (LBP) and matched control subjects.

Altered muscle recruitment during extension from trunk flexion in low back pain developers.

Background: A functionally induced, transient low back pain model consisting of exposure to prolonged standing has been used to elucidate baseline neuromuscular differences between previously asymptomatic individuals classified as pain developers and non-pain developers based on their pain response during a standing exposure. Previous findings have included differences in frontal plane lumbopelvic control and altered movement strategies that are present prior to pain development. Control strategies during sagittal plane movement have not been previously investigated in this sample.

Increased fall risk is associated with elevated co-contraction about the ankle during static balance challenges in older adults.

Falls are a leading contributor to disability in older adults. Increased muscle co-contraction in the lower extremities during static and dynamic balance challenges has been associated with aging, and also with a history of falling. Co-contraction during static balance challenges has not been previously linked with performance on clinical tests designed to ascertain fall risk.