The physeal injuries in children occur result of trauma, infection, metabolic or ischemic disease, and these conditions cause significant problems, such as growth disturbance, deformity and premature closure of physis. The authors experienced 7 cases of children who had angular deformity of knee and limb shortenings, but no history of obvious causes of physeal injury. All of these cases had severe osteoporosis and underlying disease, which were osteogenesis imperfecta, fibrous dyplasia and long term steroid therapy. The purpose of this study are evaluation of pathomechanism of physeal injuries in severe osteoporotic children. Patients were range of age from 4 to 9 years and had common clinical features, which were angular deformities of knee, limb shortening. Also they had common radiographic findings, that were severe porosis, metaphyseal sclerosis and in some cases, pop corn like calcification around physis. At this, we supposed that chronic mechanical stress in osteoporotic bone make physis be damaged due to loss of capillary circulation and this event appear to result from collapse of bone plate, through which epiphyseal vessel penetrate. In conclusion, the children with severe osteoporosis should be observed carefully about physeal injuries, which pathomechanism are perhaps deprivation of capillary circulation through bone plate. Therefore, We should try to protect bone plate by being conscious of its existence.
Bone Plates ; Capillaries ; Child ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Extremities ; Humans ; Knee ; Osteogenesis Imperfecta ; Osteoporosis* ; Sclerosis ; Stress, Mechanical ; Zea mays

Technological advances in neonatology led to the improvement of the survival rate in preterm babies with very low birth weights. However, intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) has been one of the major complications of prematurity. IVH is relevant to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as cerebral palsy, language and cognitive impairments, and neurosensory and psychiatric problems, especially when combined with brain parenchymal injuries. Additionally, severe IVH requiring shunt insertion is associated with a higher risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Multidisciplinary and longitudinal rehabilitation should be provided for these children based on the patients’ life cycles. During the infantile period, it is essential to detect high-risk infants based on neuromotor examinations and provide early intervention as soon as possible. As babies grow up, close monitoring of language and cognitive development is needed. Moreover, providing continuous rehabilitation with task-specific and intensive repetitive training could improve functional outcomes in children with mild-to-moderate disabilities. After school age, maintaining the level of physical activity and managing complications are also needed.

The aim of this article was to present a review of the research literature on the outcome of botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) injection for management of upper limb spasticity in children with cerebral palsy (CP). We searched the electronic databases of MEDLINE, CINAHL and PUBMED for all published studies with full-length English text available. For each study, the quality of the methods and the strength of evidence were assessed by 2 independent reviewers based on the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM) guidelines. Four studies of level I, 8 studies of level IV and 4 studies of level V were identified. Due to the limited number of studies with high quality evidence and inconsistent results among studies, we were unable to support or refute the usefulness of BTX-A injection for management of upper limb spasticity in children with CP. Moreover, we identified several variables that may affect the outcome of injection, such as timing of age, dosage, dilution volumes, localization techniques of target muscles and participant characteristics. In summary, we have presented a review the literature and a discussion of the considerable uncertainty and variation associated with the clinical use of BTX-A injection for management of upper limb spasticity in children with CP.
Upper Extremity ; Range of Motion, Articular/drug effects ; Neuromuscular Agents/administration & dosage/*therapeutic use ; Muscle Spasticity/drug therapy ; Injections ; Infant ; Humans ; Child, Preschool ; Child ; Cerebral Palsy/*drug therapy ; Botulinum Toxin Type A/administration & dosage/*therapeutic use ; Age Factors ; Adult ; Adolescent

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of stretching therapy of neurogenic bladder in spinal cord injured patients. METHOD: Twelve spinal cord injured patients who had neurogeic bladder manifested with urinary incontinence resistant to oral and intravesical anticholinergic instillation treatment were selected. Oxybutynin solution was instillated via foley catheter and the catheter was clamped until incontinence occur. This was performed twice a day for 7 days. The urodynamic studies were compared before and after therapy. Total volume of daily incontinence and total volume of daily fluid intake were also monitored. RESULTS: After stretching therapy, median maximal bladder capacity increased from 190.08 to 457.17 ml (p<0.01), mean bladder compliance increased from 8.46 to 18.85 ml/cmH2O (p<0.01), mean reflex volume increased from 148.75 to 252.17 ml (p<0.05), mean maximal detrusor pressure decreased from 52.17 to 28.29 cmH2O (p<0.01), mean clinical maximal capacity increased from 277.50 to 537.50 ml (p<0.01), and mean daily incontinent volume decreased from 508.33 ml to 20.83 ml (p<0.01). No significant correlation was found between the duration since onset of injury and the urodynamic finding. CONCLUSION: This study proved that stretching therapy of bladder was an effective method in spinal cord injured patients who had neurogenic bladder with uncontrolled incontinence with conventional therapy.
Administration, Intravesical ; Catheters ; Compliance ; Humans ; Reflex ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic* ; Urinary Incontinence ; Urodynamics

PURPOSE: To identify the characteristics of static standing balance and its postural control mechanisms during quiet side-by-side standing and the changes in these measures whilst wearing hinged ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) in children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (CP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one children with bilateral spastic CP (6.10 +/- 1.09 year-old) and 22 typically developing (TD) children (5.64 +/- 0.49 year-old) were recruited. Pressure data were recorded while subjects with or without AFOs stood on dual force platforms and net body center of pressure (CoP) coordinates were calculated from this data. Net body CoP was traced for measuring mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) displacement and path length per second. Correlation coefficients between parameters representing ankle, hip, and transverse body rotation strategies were also analyzed. RESULTS: ML and AP displacement and path length per second of the CoP trajectory were higher in children with CP compared to TD children (p < 0.05). There were no significant improvements in these parameters whilst wearing hinged AFOs. Compared to TD children, children with CP used less ankle strategy though more hip and transverse rotation strategies for postural control during quiet standing. Whilst wearing hinged AFOs, the contribution of ankle strategy was significantly increased for ML balance control in children with CP (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Hinged AFOs for children with CP may be helpful in improving the postural control mechanisms but not the postural stability in quiet side-by-side standing.
Ankle Joint/*pathology ; Cerebral Palsy/rehabilitation/*therapy ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Male ; *Orthotic Devices ; Postural Balance/*physiology

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of incentive spirometer exercise (ISE) on pulmonary function and maximal phonation time (MPT) in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty children with CP were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group and the control group. Both groups underwent comprehensive rehabilitation therapy. The experimental group underwent additional ISE. The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, peak expiratory flow (PEF), and MPT were assessed as outcome measures before and after 4 weeks of training. RESULTS: There were significant improvements in FVC, FEV1, PEF, and MPT in the experimental group, but not in the control group. In addition, the improvements in FVC, FEV1, and MPT were significantly greater in the experimental group than in the control group. CONCLUSION: The results of this randomized controlled study support the use of ISE for enhancing pulmonary function and breath control for speech production in children with CP.
Adolescent ; Body Fluids ; Breathing Exercises/*methods ; Cerebral Palsy/complications/*physiopathology ; Child ; *Exercise ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Lung ; Male ; Motivation ; *Spirometry ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate useful parameters for estimating gastrocnemius (GCM) muscle volume (MV) using ultrasonography (US) and anthropometry in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen legs from nine children with spastic CP aged 2 to 6 years were investigated in this study. Tibial length (TL) of each leg was measured and muscle thickness (MT) and anatomical cross-sectional area (aCSA) of GCM muscles were assessed using US. The volume of the GCM was measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The relationship of TL, MT, and aCSA with MV measured by MRI was investigated. Simple and multiple regression analyses were performed to establish muscle volume prediction equations. RESULTS: Resting MT, aCSA, and TL were highly related to MV of both medial and lateral head of GCM determined by MRI. The MV prediction equation based on simple regression analysis resulted in r2 values ranging from 0.591 to 0.832 (p<0.05). The r2 values were higher using aCSA as independent variable than using MT. The MV prediction equation based on multiple regression analysis resulted in r2 values ranging from 0.779 to 0.903 (p<0.05). However, the relatively high standard error of the estimate values ranged from 18.0-33.6% on simple regression and 15.5-25.6% on multiple regression. The contribution of aCSA was higher than that of MT for predicting MV of GCM. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated the suitability of US assessment of aCSA and MT combined with TL for estimating MV of GCM in children with spastic CP and showed that aCSA is more useful parameter than MT.
Cerebral Palsy/*pathology/ultrasonography ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Muscle, Skeletal/*pathology/ultrasonography

OBJECTIVE: Ovarian failure is often common complication by the conditioning protocol used for bone marrow transplantation (BMT). To determine the frequency of recovery of ovarian function after allo-BMT and the major factor that predict recovery, we monitored ovarian function in 24 premenopausal women METHOD: Twenty-four women met the inclusion criteria, which were (1) moderate to severe aplastic anemia before BMT, (2) disease-free at least 18 month after transplantation, (3) age younger than 40 years and more than 3 years after menarche at transplantation and (4) regular menstrual periods before transplantation. Recovery of ovarian function was determined by regular menses without menopausal symptom and sign. we divided conditioning regimen to two groups, Group I : cytoxan alone(n=17), Group II : cytoxan plus total body irradiation (TBI)(n=7). RESULTS: All women became amenorrhea after BMT and the clinical characteristics were not significant between two groups. 17 patients who received only cytoxan all recovered ovarian function between 1 to 14 months(median : 7.28) after BMT. The median age at BMT of women with regained ovarian function was 26 years (range, 21 to 33) versus 30 (range, 21 to 37) for those who did not. The age at transplantation was not significant between two groups in our study and the most predictive independent factor in ovarian recovery is the presence of total body irradiation. None of women who received TBI regained ovarian function during 19-49 month follow up. CONCLUSION: Gonadal insufficiency due to pre-BMT conditioning is more severe in radiation based regimen than cytoxan alone. therefore, we recommend early hormone replacement therapy in radiation treated women to prevent the complication of premature menopause.
Amenorrhea ; Anemia, Aplastic* ; Bone Marrow Transplantation* ; Bone Marrow* ; Cyclophosphamide ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gonads ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Menarche ; Menopause, Premature ; Whole-Body Irradiation

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how soft tissue surgery for correcting equinus deformity affects the kinematic and kinetic parameters of the ankle and proximal joints. Sixteen children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy and equinus deformities (age range 3-16 years) were included. Soft tissue surgeries were performed exclusively on the ankle joint area in all subjects. Using computerized gait analysis (Vicon 370 Motion Analysis System), the kinematic and kinetic parameters during barefoot ambulation were collected preoperatively and postoperatively. In all 16 children, the abnormally increased ankle plantar flexion and pelvis anterior tilting on the sagittal plane were significantly improved without a weakening of push-off (p < 0.05). In a group of 8 subjects with a recurvatum knee gait pattern before operation, the postoperative kinematic and kinetic parameters of the knee joint were significantly improved (p < 0.05). In a group of 8 subjects with ipsilateral pelvic external rotation before operation, the postoperative pelvic deviations on the transverse plane were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that the soft tissue surgery for correcting equinus deformity improves not only the abnormal gait pattern of the ankle, but also that of the knee and pelvis.
Male ; Kinetics ; Joints/physiopathology/surgery ; Humans ; Hemiplegia/*surgery ; Gait/physiology ; Female ; Equinus Deformity/*surgery ; Child, Preschool ; Child ; Cerebral Palsy/*surgery ; Biomechanics ; Ankle Joint/physiopathology/surgery ; Adolescent

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the immediate effect of a single session of whole body vibration (WBV) on lower extremity spasticity in children with cerebral palsy (CP). METHODS: Seventeen children with spastic CP were included. A single session of WBV was administered: 10-minute WBV, 1-minute rest, and 10-minute WBV. The effects of WBV were clinically assessed with the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS) before and immediately, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, and 4 hours after WBV. RESULTS: Spasticity of the ankle plantarflexor, as assessed by MAS and MTS scores, was reduced after WBV. Post-hoc analysis demonstrated that, compared to baseline, the MAS significantly improved for a period of 1 hour after WBV, and the R1 and R2–R1 of the MTS significantly improved for a period of 2 hours after WBV. CONCLUSION: A single session of WBV improves spasticity of ankle plantarflexors for 1–2 hours in children with CP. Future studies are needed to test whether WBV is an effective preparation before physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
Ankle ; Cerebral Palsy* ; Child* ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Muscle Spasticity* ; Occupational Therapy ; Vibration*