Influence of Sex and Body Mass Index on the Thoracic Kyphosis and Lumbar Lordosis.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of sex and body mass index (BMI) on the thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis of adolescents and to assess the reliability and agreement of the flexicurve method for these measurements. METHODS: The study included 217 adolescents of both sexes, aged between 11 and 15 years, who were students from municipal schools in the city of São José dos Campos in São Paulo. The measurement of thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis angles was performed using the flexicurve method. Descriptive analysis of the data, analysis of covariance for comparison between groups (by BMI and sex), assessment of reliability, and intrarater agreement were analyzed. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the groups by BMI and sex only for lumbar lordosis. The obese group had greater lumbar angles for both sexes (female sex: 32.6° ± 7.8° [eutrophic]; 37.7° ± 7.3° [obese]; male sex: 25.3° ± 7.3° [eutrophic]; 32.2° ± 7.3° [obese]). In the comparison between the sexes, the greatest lumbar angles were found in the female sex (female sex: 32.6° ± 7.8°; male sex: 25.3° ± 7.3°) among the eutrophic. Excellent intrarater reliability was found for thoracic kyphosis (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.86) and moderate for lumbar lordosis (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.72). CONCLUSION: Sex and BMI were associated with lumbar lordosis in adolescents and were greater in individuals with obesity and female individuals. The flexicurve method was reliable and accurate for the assessment of thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis in adolescents.

Quantitative Postural Analysis of Children With Congenital Visual Impairment.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the postural alignment of children with visual impairment with that of children without visual impairment. METHODS: The sample studied was 74 children of both sexes ages 5 to 12 years. Of these, 34 had visual impairment and 40 were control children. Digital photos from the standing position were used to analyze posture. Postural variables, such as tilt of the head, shoulder position, scapula position, lateral deviation of the spine, ankle position in the frontal plane and head posture, angle of thoracic kyphosis, angle of lumbar lordosis, pelvis position, and knee position in the frontal and sagittal planes, were measured with the Postural Assessment Software 0.63, version 36 (SAPO, São Paulo, Brazil), with markers placed in predetermined bony landmarks. RESULTS: The main results of this study showed that children with visual impairment have increased head tilt (P < .001), shoulder deviation in frontal plane (P = .004), lateral deviation of the spine (P < .001), changes in scapula position (P = .012), higher thoracic kyphosis (P = .004), and lower lumbar lordosis (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Visual impairment influences postural alignment. Children with visual impairment had increased head tilt, uneven shoulders, greater lateral deviation of the spine, thoracic kyphosis, lower lumbar lordosis, and more severe valgus deformities on knees.

Effects of phonophoresis with Arnica montana onto acute inflammatory process in rat skeletal muscles: an experimental study.

This study aimed at verifying the effects of phonophoresis associated with Arnica montana on the acute phase of an inflammatory muscle lesion. Forty Wistar male rats (300+/-50 g), of which the Tibialis Anterior muscle was surgically lesioned, were divided into four groups (n=10 each): control group received no treatment; the ultrasound group (US) was treated in pulsed mode with 1-MHz frequency, 0.5 W/cm(2) intensity (spatial and temporal average - SATA), duty cycle of 1:2 (2 ms on, 4 ms off, 50%), time of application 3 min per session, one session per day, for 3 days; the phonophoresis or ultrasound plus arnica (US+A) group was treated with arnica with the same US parameters plus arnica gel; and the arnica group (A) was submitted to massage with arnica gel, also for 3 min, once a day, for 3 days. Treatment started 24h after the surgical lesion. On the 4th day after lesion creation, animals were sacrificed and sections of the lesioned, inflamed muscle were removed for quantitative (mononuclear and polymorphonuclear cell count) and qualitative histological analysis. Collected data from the 4 groups were statistically analyzed and the significance level set at p<0.05. Results show higher mononuclear cell density in all three treated groups with no significant difference between them, but values were significantly different (p<0.0001) when compared to control group's. As to polymorphonuclear cell density, significant differences were found between control group (p=0.0134) and US, US+A and A groups; the arnica group presented lesser density of polymorphonuclear cells when compared (p=0.0134) to the other groups. No significant difference was found between US and US+A groups. While the massage with arnica gel proved to be an effective anti-inflammatory on acute muscle lesion in topic use, these results point to ineffectiveness of Arnica montana phonophoresis, US having seemingly checked or minimized its anti-inflammatory effect.