Validity and reliability of the Greek version of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder Assessment Form.

BACKGROUND: The aim of our study is to prove the validity and reliability of the Greek translated version of the self-report section of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) questionnaire. METHODS: A total of 108 patients with various shoulder disorders were evaluated at two different orthopedic centers. All patients answered the Greek ASES questionnaire as well as the previously validated Greek version of the Disability Arm Shoulder and Hand score. Three days after the first evaluation, a subgroup of 40 individuals was randomly selected to complete again the Greek ASES text to prove its reliability, after the test-retest procedure. Reliability was tested with Cronbach's alpha, stability by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient and by Blant Altman plot and structural validity with the confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: The internal consistency of the ASES functional score and the ASES total score was 0.925 and 0.750 respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient between initial assessment and reassessment of the ASES functional and total score was 0.951 and 0.938 (P < .001), respectively. The correlation coefficients correlation between the ASES functional and total scores with DASH total score were -0.881 and -0.759 (P < .001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The Greek ASES version proved to be equivalent to the English original version in evaluating different shoulder disorders in the Greek population.

Aberrant Radial Artery Causing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Anatomical vascular variations are rare causes of carpal tunnel syndrome. An aberrant medial artery is the most common vascular variation, while an aberrant radial artery causing carpal tunnel syndrome is even more rare, with an incidence ranging less than 3%. This article reports a patient with compression of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel by an aberrant superficial branch of the radial artery. An 80- year- old man presented with a 5-year history of right hand carpal tunnel syndrome; Tinel sign, Phalen test and neurophysiological studies were positive. Open carpal tunnel release showed an aberrant superficial branch of the radial artery with its accompanying veins running from radially to medially, almost parallel to the median nerve, ending at the superficial palmar arterial arch. The median nerve was decompressed without ligating the aberrant artery. At the last follow-up, 2 years after diagnosis and treatment the patient is asymptomatic.