Trunk control and functionality in children with spastic cerebral palsy

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between trunk control in sitting and functionality in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Fifty-eight children with spastic CP were included in the study. Functional abilities were evaluated with the Gross Motor Function Measurement-88 (GMFM-88) and the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory Functional Skills domain (PEDI-FSD). Trunk control in sitting was tested with the Trunk Control Measurement Scale (TCMS) and the Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS). The scores of the TCMS and TIS were compared with GMFM-88 and PEDI-FSD with Spearman correlation analysis. Results: The total score of GMFM-88 was signi?cantly correlated with the total score of TCMS (r(ho) = 0.90, p < 0.01) and TIS (r(ho) = 0.78, p < 0.01). The total score of PEDI-FSD was also signi?cantly correlated with the total score of TCMS (r(ho) = 0.76, p < 0.01) and TIS (r(ho) = 0.72, p < 0.01). Conclusions: The evaluation of trunk control can provide valuable information for functional abilities of children with spastic CP

Reliability and Validity of the Turkish Version of the Early Clinical Assessment of Balance (ECAB) for Young Children with Cerebral Palsy

The Early Clinical Assessment of Balance (ECAB) is a clinical tool that measures the postural stability of young children with cerebral palsy (CP) between the ages of one and a half to five years. The aim of this study was to test the reliability and the validity of the Turkish version of the ECAB in children with CP. Fifty children with spastic CP with the median age of 4.25 (IQR: 3-5) years were included in the study. The children were between the levels I-V according to the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Test-retest reliability of the ECAB was evaluated by using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC3,1). Validity of the ECAB was analysed by examining the differences in the ECAB scores between the GMFCS levels and investigating the relation between the Turkish version of the ECAB and the GMFM-88. We found that the Turkish version of the ECAB had good test-retest reliability. Mann-Whitney U pairwise analyses indicated that the ECAB scores differed significantly between GMFCS levels I-III, I-IV, I-V and II-V (p<0.00512, Sidak correction, CI: 95%). Spearman correlation coefficient between the ECAB and the total GMFM-88 score was 0.968 (p<0.01). The results of our study showed that the Turkish version of the ECAB has good test-retest reliability and validity to assess postural stability of Turkish children with spastic CP, but we recommend further research to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the ECAB in different types (ataxia, dyskinesia, etc.) of CP

Functional Independence, Quality of Life, and Level of Mobility of Elderly People Living at Home and Nursing Home

Objective: To compare level of mobility, quality of life, and functional independence of the elderly people living at home and in the nursing homes

Applying critical pressure to middle cerebral artery in dogs

The purpose of our model was to provide maximum pressure level of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) without causing any histological variation like focal cerebral ischaemia. In this experimental study 9 dogs were used. A modified Spetzler occluder was applied to the MCA of the dogs to determine regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP). Seven animals underwent the surgical procedure with measurements of rCBF after arterial microdissection and then after applying 80% blood pressure (BP) to the MCA for 15 minutes. In rCBF a 29% average reduction was observed. The average value of rCBF at the end of 15 minutes was 63.5 ± 6.52 ml/100 g min. Simultaneous somatosensory evoked potential recordings were also obtained. When rCBF was reduced 29%, 80% BP applying to MCA did not cause complications

Microsurgery Results in Vestibular Schwannoma Patients: Retrospective Clinical Study

Objective: Nowadays due to developing imaging techniques, vestibular schwannoma cases are monitored more frequently. In this study, the results of the patients who underwent surgery in the Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul University Istanbul School of Medicine were retrospectively evaluated