Functional implication of gait after left or right-sided stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify and compare parameters of muscle electrical activity and ground reaction force of lower limb during gait in post-stroke patients with left or right side functional involvement. METHOD: Fifteen post-stroke volunteers with left side functional involvement were age, gender and weight matched and compared to fifteen post-stroke volunteers with right side functional involvement. Comparison was executed by means of electromyography with four pairs of surface electrodes positioned on the affected side (spastic side), on the muscles rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, soleus, and medial portion of the hamstrings, and with a ground reaction force plate. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference on electromyographic activity of analyzed muscles (p = 0.6), nor on the analysis of ground reaction vertical forces, stride duration, weight bearing index, gait velocity, cadence and stride length (p = 0.53). CONCLUSION: According to the electromyographic parameters and to the ground reaction force during gait among the post-stroke volunteers with right or left side involvement; we could suggest that functional rehabilitation presented no differences for these individuals.

Electromyographic and neuromuscular analysis in patients with post-polio syndrome.

Proceed to a comparative analysis of the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the muscles rectus femoris, vastus medialis and vastus lateralis, and to assess muscle strength and fatigue after maximal isometric contraction during knee extension. Eighteen patients with post-polio syndrome, age and weight matched, were utilized in this study. The signal acquisition system utilized consisted of three pairs of surface electrodes positioned on the motor point of the analyzed muscles. It was possible to observe with the results of this study a decreased endurance on initial muscle contraction and during contraction after 15 minutes of the initial maximal voluntary contraction, along with a muscle fatigue that was assessed through linear regression executed with Pearson's test. There were significant differences among the comparative analysis of EMG activity of the muscles rectus femoris, vastus medialis and vastus lateralis after maximal isometric contraction during knee extension. Initial muscle contraction and contraction after a 15 minute-rest from initial contraction decreased considerably, indicating a decreased endurance on muscle contraction, concluding that a lower limb muscle fatigue was present on the analyzed PPS patients.

Corporal oscillation during static biped posture in children with cerebral palsy.

This previous study was performed to compare the antero-posterior and medium-lateral displacements and the speed of displacement of the COP of healthy children and compare them to children with cerebral palsy type spastic diparesy. This study had the participation of 10 healthy children (6 girls and 4 boys), between 5 and 10 (7,6 +/- 2,1) years old, and other 10 children, all diagnosed as CP type spastic diparesy, (5 girls and 5 boys), between 5 e 10 (7,3 +/- 1,8) years old. To collect the data, we used the antero-posterior (AP) e medium-lateral (ML) displacements of the COP The parameters were compared by the variance analysis (ANOVA), and the post hoc test was Tukey's HSD. The level of significance adopted was p < 0,05. After the collect of data and statistical analysis, it was observed that the medium amplitude of the AP and ML displacements was higher in CP children, related to the healthy children: AP-F(I,18)= 1,66 (p = 0,002), ML-F1,18)= 3,36 (p = 0,002). As the amplitude, the speed of the displacements was also different among the children. The speed of the displacements, AP and ML was higher in CP children - F(1,36) = 0,009 (p = 0,00). There were no differences between the speed of AP and ML displacements, neither in the healthy children, nor in CP ones - F(1,36)= 0,00 (p = 0,87). The sensorial deficit found in CP children is an important issue in the increase of the amplitude and speed of displacement of the COP.