ISOKINETIC STRENGTH MEASUREMENTS IN EARLY KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Objectives: One of the most important reasons for locomotor dysfunction and disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) is muscle weakness in the lower extremity. The aim of this study was to compare the isokinetic knee muscle strength of patients with early knee OA with those of healthy people

Isokinetic Strength Measurements In Early Knee Osteoarthritis

Objectives: One of the most important reasons for locomotor dysfunction and disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) is muscle weakness in the lower extremity. The aim of this study was to compare the isokinetic knee muscle strength of patients with early knee OA with those of healthy people. Patients and Methods: Fifty-one patients with bilateral knee osteoarthritis who were radiologically graded as stage I or II and forty-three healthy subjects were enrolled. Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index and 100 mm VAS were used to assess patients with knee OA. Manual muscle strength testing for quadriceps muscle and circumference measurements 10 cm above the midpatellar line were performed. Bilateral isokinetic (concentric/concentric) knee flexion and extension with the protocol of 60 degrees/sec (four repetitions), 180 degrees/sec (four repetitions) and 240 degrees/sec (20 repetitions) were performed. Results: Regarding manual muscle testing of knee OA group, quadriceps muscle strength in six knees were 4/5 and in 96 knees were 5/5; whereas in the control group only two knees had 4/5 and the rest 84 knees had 5/5 muscle strengths (p=0.22). Thigh circumference measurements were statistically similar in this regard (all p values > 0.05). In all velocities knee flexor and extensor isokinetic muscle strength values were found to be significantly lower in patients with knee OA compared to healthy subjects (p<0.05). Patients with stage I OA had greater muscle strength than those of stage II (p<0.05). Conclusions: Whether being a cause or a consequence of knee OA, muscle strength loss which cannot be detected during clinical examination appears to be present during isokinetic measurements.Wo

Musculoskeletal Sonography in Juvenile Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective. To demonstrate the role of sonography in depicting periarticular changes in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to find out whether certain tendons in juvenile SLE patients were different from those of healthy controls

Superficial palmar communications between the ulnar and median nerves in Turkish cadavers

WOS: 000250256800010PubMed: 17583587The superficial palmar communicating branch between the ulnar and median nerves, the ramus communicans (RC), has been investigated by anatomical dissections in 30 hands of 15 cadavers in the Turkish population. A communicating branch between the ulnar and median nerves was found in 18 hands (60%). It was classified into 4 types: Type 1-RC emerging from the ulnar 4th common digital nerve (CDN) and uniting with the median 3rd CDN, Type 2-RC emerging from the median 3rd CDN and uniting with the ulnar 4th CDN, Type 3-RC extending horizontally between the 3rd and 4th CDN, Type 4-a plexiform RC formed by multiple twigs. Twelve hands (40%) showed the Type 1 arrangement, one was Type 2 (3.3%), two were Type 3 (6.7%) and three (10%) were Type 4, based on the classification devised by Meals and Shaner ([1983] 3 Hand Surg Am 8:411-414) and modified by Bas and Kleinert ([1999] 3 Hand Surg Am 24:1171-1184). Knowledge of the anatomical characteristics of this branch is important for surgical interventions, especially in carpal tunnel release operations

Ultrasonographic Evaluation Of The Radial Nerves In Patients With Unilateral Refractory Lateral Epicondylitis

Objective. To evaluate the possible radial nerve entrapment of patients with unilateral refractory lateral epicondylitis (LE) by using ultrasound (US) and electroneuromyography. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Three physical medicine and rehabilitation departments. Subjects. Consecutive 44 patients (15 M, 29 F) with unilateral refractory LE. Methods. All patients underwent detailed clinical, electrophysiological and ultrasonographic evaluations. Ultrasound imaging was used to evaluate thickness and presence of abnormal findings of the common extensor tendon (CET) and cross-sectional area (CSA) of the radial nerve (at spiral groove and before bifurcation) bilaterally. Unaffected sides of the patients were taken as controls. Results. When compared with the unaffected sides, CET thickness and radial nerve CSAs (at both levels) were higher, and abnormal US findings regarding LE (47.7% vs. 6.8%) were more common on the affected sides than nonaffected sides (all P 0.05). When subgroup analyses were performed after taking into account the hand dominance, affected and dominant sides were found to be the same in 31 and different in 13 patients. In subgroups, CETs and radial nerve CSAs at both levels were higher on the affected sides (all P < 0.01). Conclusions. Radial nerves and the CETs seem to be swollen on the affected sides, independent from the hand dominance of the patients with refractory LE. These results morphologically support the previous literature that attributes some of the chronic complaints of these patients actually to radial nerve entrapment.WoSScopu