OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of robot-assisted hand rehabilitation in improving arm function abilities in sub-acute hemiplegic patients. DESIGN Randomized controlled pilot study. SETTING Inpatient rehabilitation centers. PARTICIPANTS Thirty hemiplegic stroke patients (Ashworth spasticity index <3) were recruited and randomly divided into ...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine differences in respiratory pressure and pulmonary function among children with spastic diplegic and hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) in comparison with children with normal development. [Subjects and Methods] Fourteen children with spastic diplegic CP, 11 children with hemiplegic CP, and 14 children with normal development were recruited. Respi...

BACKGROUND Annually, some 9000 people in Switzerland suffer a first time stroke. Of these 60% are left with moderate to severe walking disability. Evidence shows that rehabilitation techniques which emphasise activity of the hemiplegic side increase ipsilesional cortical plasticity and improve functional outcomes. Canes are commonly used in gait rehabilitation although they significantly reduce...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of the newly developed Spine Balance 3D system on the balance and gait abilities of hemiplegic stroke patients. METHODS Twenty-eight hemiplegic patients with chronic stroke were randomly assigned to an experimental (n=14) or control group (n=14). The experimental and control groups performed balance training by using the newly developed Spine Balance 3D sy...

We evaluated the diaphragmatic excursion, volumetric measurement, maximal inspiratory pressure (PI(max)), lung function tests (forced vital capacity-FVC, forced expiratory volume in the first second-FEV1, mean forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of the FVC maneuver-FEF(25-75%), peak expiratory flow-PEF and maximal voluntary ventilation-MVV), displacement of the domes diaphragmatics with u...

The authors evaluate the effect of rehabilitation on the temporal and masseter muscles of the elevator mandible. Parallel studies were con­ ducted on the status of occlusion and dental arch and cephalometric analysis of the physiognomy was performed to evaluate the recovery of the mimical muscles in 31 hemiplegic patients. A significant difference in the EMG activity of the masticatory muscles ...

The relationship between upper extremity motor function and independence in basic activities of daily living in subjects with hemiplegia was explored. The Barthel Index (Mahoney & Barthel, 1965) and the Fugl-Meyer Test (Fugl-Meyer, Jääskö, Leyman, Olsson, & Steglind, 1975) were selected as the standard instruments for the evaluation of activities of daily living and upper extremity motor functi...

[Purpose] Our objective was to evaluate the residual dynamic and static functionality in the sitting position of hemiplegic stroke patients who require help to pull their lower garments up and down during toileting. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 11 hemiplegic patients. We gathered data on the patients' motor paralysis, sensory capacity, lower extremity muscle strength, trunk control,...

[Purpose] This study investigated the effects of stretching and joint stabilization exercises applied to spastic shoulder joints on improving shoulder dysfunction in hemiplegic patients. [Subjects and Methods] Hemiplegic patients were classified into three groups: one group received 30 min of traditional exercise therapy for the spastic shoulder joint; one group received 30 min stretching; and ...

Hemiplegic cerebral palsy is characterized by unilateral upper limb impairment and patients often compensate by performing most tasks with their unaffected arm. Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) directly combats this learned non-use by casting the unaffected arm and forcing the patient to repetitively practice skills with the hemiplegic limb. Subjects with hemiplegic cerebral palsy wer...