Post-polio Syndrome / The Japanese Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine

Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is the term used to describe the symptoms that may develop many years after acute paralytic poliomyelitis( APP). In the case of PPS, the symptoms and signs include progressive muscle wasting and weakness, limb pain, and/or fatigue, occurring one or more decades after maximal recovery from APP. An overuse of enlarged motor units is suspected to cause the deterioration of some nerve terminals or the loss of the motor units themselves. This could in turn induce PPS symptoms such as new muscle weakness and atrophy. Electromyography (EMG) is often a strong tool to diagnose and evaluate PPS. Some studies have shown that mild to moderate intensity muscular strengthening has a positive effect in patients affected by PPS. Rehabilitation for PPS patients should utilize a multiprofessional and multidisciplinary approach. PPS patients should be advised to avoid both inactivity and overuse of the affected muscles. Finally, patient evaluation is often required to access the need of orthoses and assistive devices.

Adolescent Normative Data on Simple Neuropsychological Tests for Cognitive Behavioral Disorders / The Japanese Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine

Although the Trail Making Test (TMT) Part A, B, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-KFS version (WCST-KFS) and Miyake's Verbal Paired-Associate Learning Test (MVPLT) are simple tools to evaluate cognitive dysfunction in patients with traumatic brain injury, there is very little normative data for young persons available in Japan. Therefore, we evaluated 124 healthy persons who were from 15 to 30 years old with the three assessment tools. Median numbers of TMT Part A and Part B were 23.8 seconds and 49.0 seconds, respectively. Median numbers of achieved categories, perseverative errors of the Nelson type, and difficulties of maintaining set in the WCST-KFS were 5, 2 and 0, respectively. Median numbers of correct answers for related and unrelated pairs of MVPLT were 10 and 9 at the third trial, respectively. TMT Part B and perseverative errors of the Nelson type had a negative and weak correlation with age. And related pairs of MVPLT at the first trial had a positive and weak correlation with age. The normative values obtained in this study would be a useful standard for clinical assessments and acknowledgment of disabilities.