No abstract available.
Female ; Humans ; Plasma* ; Pregnant Women*

PURPOSE: Since the introduction of short vein bypass (SVB), many have reported its feasibility when long vein bypass (LVB) cannot be performed due to limited vein conduit. However, the presence of inflow-vessel disease may affect graft patency and thus require endovascular treatment prior to surgery. Our study aims to analyze the results between SVB and LVB. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2009 to 2013, 27 bypass procedures were reviewed retrospectively. Outcomes such as patency rate, postoperative ankle brachial index (ABI) and limb salvage rate between SVB and LVB were compared. Wound healing time and primary patency rate were analyzed and the former was also analyzed according to the respective angiosome and revascularization type. RESULTS: There were 11 males and 16 females and the mean age was 66.6+/-12.3 years. Twenty four patients had TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) D and 3 patients had TASC C lesions below knee. The 1-year cumulative patency rate between SVB and LVB were 63% and 66%, P=0.627. The limb salvage rate (100% vs. 73%; P=0.280) and postoperative ABI (0.592 vs. 0.508; P=0.620) were higher in the SVB group than in the LVB group, although the differences were not significant. There was no difference in wound healing time by angiosomal revascularization type. In situ vein graft showed higher patency rate than reversed greater saphenous vein (75% vs. 61%; P=0.00) CONCLUSION: The results of SVB were similar to those of LVB. SVB is feasible in the setting of limited conduit availability, in combination with endovascular treatment in the presence of proximal lesions.
Ankle Brachial Index ; Consensus ; Extremities* ; Female ; Humans ; Ischemia* ; Knee ; Limb Salvage ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Saphenous Vein ; Transplants* ; Veins* ; Wound Healing

No abstract available.

The experimental evidences suggest that the roles of basal ganglia are cognition and emotion through the corticostriatothalamocortical relationship. The patients with lesions in the caudate nucleus have high incidences of cognitive and behavioral abnormalities accompanied with the motor paralysis. In these patients, the accurate assessment of neuropsychologic dysfunctions and the prompt application of cognitive rehabilitation programs are important for the functional restoration. We evaluated the patients with stroke of basal ganglia for the clinical and neuropsychological characteristics in relation to the involved substructures of basal ganglia. Fourteen patients were evaluated for the clinical neurologic examinations, functional assessment by functional independence measure(FIM), speech assessment, and various neuropsychological tests for the assessment of attention and memory functions. The results were analysed a ccording to their lesion sites. Of the nine patients with stroke at the right basal ganglia, five patients had neglect of the contralateral hemispace and one had dysarthria. On the other hand, of the five patients with stroke at the left basal ganglia, none had hemispatial neglect and three had aphasia or dysarthria. Of the six patients with caudate lesions, three had aphasia or dysarthria, whereas of the eight patients without caudate lesion, one had dysarthria. The scores of Wechsler memory test were significantly lower in the patients with caudate lesions(P<0.05). Among the FIM subscales, the scores of communication and social cognition were significantly lower in the patients with caudate lesions(P<0.05). The Motor Score was significantly lower in the patients with putamen lesions(P<0.05). Among the FIM subscales, the scores of self care and locomotion were significantly lower in the patients with putamen lesions(P<0.05).
Aphasia ; Basal Ganglia* ; Caudate Nucleus ; Cognition ; Dysarthria ; Hand ; Humans ; Incidence ; Locomotion ; Memory ; Neurologic Examination ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Paralysis ; Perceptual Disorders ; Putamen ; Rehabilitation ; Self Care ; Stroke*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a contralateral shoe-lift and ipsilateral leather outsole on the energy consumption in hemiplegic gait. METHOD: Ten hemiplegic patients who could walk independently were enrolled. Using portable ergospirometer (K4b2, Cosmed, Italy), quantitative evaluation of oxygen consumption under varying shoes conditions was done: 1) regular shoes 2) a half-inch shoe-lift on the sound side 3) a half-inch shoe-lift on the sound side and leather outsole on the plegic side. The evaluation distance was 20 meter on comfortable walking speed. RESULTS: The oxygen consumption was significantly decreased after the application of shoe-lift compared with regular shoes (p<0.01), and the oxygen consumption was least with the application of shoe-lift and leather outsole (p<0.05). This effect was prominent in subject with poor muscle power in hemiplegic lower extremity. The walking speed was also increased with shoe-lift and leather outsole (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate that proper shoes modification can reduce the energy consumption in hemiplegic gait and can lead to more efficient functional ambulation.
Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Gait Disorders, Neurologic* ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Oxygen Consumption ; Shoes* ; Walking

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the reliability of the Korean version of Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) and to compare the sensitivity of the SCIM to functional changes of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients with that of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). METHOD: Seventeen subjects with SCI were studied. The SCIM was translated and modified to convert as SCIM Korean-version. All patients were evaluated with the SCIM and the FIM by two raters every other week. To determine inter-rater reliability, the relationship between the SCIM scores obtained by two raters was evaluated by Kappa coefficient and linear regression. To determine relative sensitivity of the test to functional changes, changes in the scores on the SCIM and FIM were compared by McNemar test. RESULTS: The Kappa coefficient of the various individual tasks in SCIM ranged between 0.63 and 1.00. High correlations were also found between the total SCIM scores for the paired raters (r=0.99, p<0.01). The SCIM detected all the functional changes detected by FIM total scoring, but in 3 (14%) of 22 sequential test batteries, the FIM missed changes detected by SCIM total scoring. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that the SCIM is reliable and more sensitive than the FIM in reflecting the functional changes of SCI patients.
Humans ; Linear Models ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord*

Trauma is one of the causes of lymphedema. However, we usually do not consider it as a cause of the lymphedema, thus, we often fail to take care of the patients properly. We report a patient with post traumatic lymphedema and the result of complex decongestive therapy, and reviewed the clinical, lymphoscintigraphic findings and treatment.
Humans ; Lymphedema*

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the lower extremity blood flow in hemiplegic patients with a quantitative Doppler ultrasound examination of the common femoral artery(CFA). METHODS: Cross-sectional area(CSA), peak systolic velocity(PSV) and inflow volume(IV) of CFA of normal and paralyzed limbs in 24 hemiplegic patients were measured with a Doppler ultrasound. Patients were divided into three groups according to the ambulation levels: 1) nonambulator, 2) assisted ambulator, and 3) independent ambulator. The results from Doppler images of paralyzed lower extremity were compared with the normal side in each three different groups. RESULTS: In the nonambulator group, the three parameters were not significantly different between normal and paralyzed lower extremity. In the assisted ambulator group, the CSA of the paralyzed lower extremity was significantly smaller than the normal side (p<0.05). In the independent ambulator group, the CSA and IV of the paralyzed lower extremity were significantly smaller than the normal side (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study proved that the blood flow of the paralyzed lower extremity was diminished than the normal side in hemiplegic patients especially for the independent ambulator group.
Extremities ; Hemiplegia ; Humans ; Lower Extremity* ; Ultrasonography* ; Walking

Significant illnesses or a major trauma including spinal cord injury can induce the changes of thyroid hormone metabolism, leading to the findings of "Euthyroid Sick Syndrome(ESS)". The physicians should be aware of these changes in order to interpret thyroid function test correctly after the spinal cord injury. We report three cases of ESS after the spinal cord injury. On a routine evaluation, they showed a low serum T3 level, and the T3 level returned to the normal range on a follow up study without any specific treatment.
Euthyroid Sick Syndromes* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Metabolism ; Reference Values ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Thyroid Function Tests ; Thyroid Gland

Neurogenic bladder and bowel refers to the dysfunction of bladder and bowel caused by neurogenic etiology. Spinal cord injury is a major cause of this dysfunction, which seriously affects the injured person’s quality of life. The injury causes not only motor weakness of abdominal and perineal muscles, but also sensory changes and autonomic dysfunction of bladder and bowel. Spinal cord injuries involve multiple systems, and thus affect the normal functioning of the bowel and bladder in several ways: difficulty in urination and defecation, frequent or infrequent voiding, decrease of the sensation of fullness, incontinence, autonomic dysreflexia, perineal hygiene, deterioration of renal function, fecal impaction, psychological burden, etc. Thus, this review aims to provide updated practical guidance for the evaluation and management of neurogenic bowel and bladder by the clinicians who want to provide better care for their patients. Management of neurogenic bowel and bladder starts with carefully recording the patient’s history, including their bowel habits prior to the spinal injury. In general, evaluation of the neurogenic bladder requires more clinical tests than for the neurogenic bowel. The patients’ problems can be alleviated by adopting various measures: proper daily water and food intake, simultaneous pharmacologic treatments for the bowel and bladder, physiologic reflexes, bladder catheterization, rectal irrigation, surgical measures, etc. Priority should be given to the management of the neurogenic bladder with clean intermittent catheterization and decompression of the bladder pressure, and management of the neurogenic bowel by pharmacological treatment.