Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on an international sample of golfers with disabilities.

INTRODUCTION: Participation in adaptive sports can mitigate the risk for obesity and social isolation/loneliness in individuals with disabilities (IWDs). The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and related changes in physical activity exacerbated existing barriers to participation in adaptive sports. There is limited literature assessing the potentially disproportionate effect of pandemic-related changes to physical activity in IWDs. OBJECTIVE: To determine how golf benefits IWDs and understand the effect of changes to golfing habits during the pandemic. DESIGN: A survey was distributed to all registered players (n = 1759) of the European Disabled Golf Association (April 2021). It assessed participants' demographic information (age, sex, race/ethnicity, nationality, impairment, golf handicap), golf habits before/after the pandemic, and perceived impact of golf and COVID-19-related golf restrictions to physical/mental health and quality of life (QoL). SETTING: European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA) worldwide database. PATIENTS: Responses were received from 171 IWDs representing 24 countries. Age 18 years or older and registration with EDGA were required for inclusion. INTERVENTIONS: Survey. OUTCOMES: Self-reported golfing habits, mental/physical health, and QoL. RESULTS: Mean participant age was 51.4 ± 12.9 years. Most respondents were amputees (41.5%) or had neurological diagnoses (33.9%). Pre-pandemic, 95% of respondents indicated that golf provided an opportunity to socialize, and most participants reported that golf positively affected physical/mental health and QoL. During the pandemic, more than 20% of participants reported golfing with fewer partners and 24.6% of participants reported playing fewer rounds per month (p < .001 for both); these findings were consistent across geographical region, ethnicity, and type of disability. Most participants (68.4%) perceived that their ability to golf had been impacted by COVID-19 and that these changes negatively affected their mental/physical health and QoL. CONCLUSIONS: Golf benefits the physical/mental health and QoL of IWDs internationally. Changes to golfing habits throughout the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected these individuals. This highlights the need to create opportunities for physical activity engagement and socialization among adaptive athletes during a global pandemic.

Prevalence of Sonographic Achilles Tendon, Patellar Tendon, and Plantar Fascia Abnormalities in Division I Collegiate Athletes From a Variety of Sports.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of ultrasound abnormalities in the Achilles tendon, patellar tendon, and plantar fascia among a large cohort of collegiate student-athletes. DESIGN: Observational cross-sectional study. SETTING: Three Division I institutions. PARTICIPANTS: 243 student-athletes participated in this study. Exclusion criteria included those younger than 18 years or who underwent prior surgery/amputation of structures, including anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgeries with patellar tendon grafts. INTERVENTIONS: Ultrasound examination of the Achilles tendon, patellar tendon, and plantar fascia of each leg was performed. An experienced sonographer reviewed each tendon video in a blinded manner, with a separate experienced sonographer separately reviewing to establish inter-rater reliability. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measured was the presence of any sonographic abnormality including hypoechogenicity, thickening, or neovascularity. RESULTS: Ultrasound abnormalities were identified in 10.1%, 37.2%, and 3.9% of all Achilles tendons, patellar tendons, and plantar fasciae, respectively. Abnormalities were significantly associated with the presence of concurrent pain for all structures (P < 0.01). Specifically, athletes with sonographic abnormalities were approximately 4 times [relative risk (RR) = 4.25; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.05-8.84], 6 times (RR = 5.69; 95% CI, 2.31-14.00), and 5 times (RR = 5.17; 95% CI, 1.76-15.25) more likely to self-report pain in the Achilles tendon, patellar tendon, and plantar fascia, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This multi-institutional study completed at 3 Division I institutions is the largest study of its kind to identify the prevalence of sonographic abnormalities in the Achilles tendon, patellar tendon, and plantar fascia among collegiate student-athletes of various sports.

Imaging of Sarcopenia.

Sarcopenia is currently underdiagnosed and undertreated, but this is expected to change because sarcopenia is now recognized with a specific diagnosis code that can be used for billing in some countries, as well as an expanding body of research on prevention, diagnosis, and management. This article focuses on practical issues of increasing interest by highlighting 3 hot topics fundamental to understanding sarcopenia in older adults: definitions and terminology, current diagnostic imaging techniques, and the emerging role of opportunistic computed tomography.

An anatomic and 3D study of the development of the proximal humeral physis.

PURPOSE: During maturation, the ossification centers of the proximal humerus form a characteristic pattern consisting of a metaphyseal peak and corresponding epiphyseal valley. The surface topographies of the metaphyseal peak and epiphyseal valley are not well described and may have variation with age and structural importance to the pathogenesis of proximal humeral epiphysiolysis. METHODS: High-resolution 3-dimensional surface scans of 24 cadaveric proximal humeral epiphyses and metaphyses in specimens aged 3 to 18 years were obtained. Computer modeling software was used to measure the peak height of the metaphysis and maximal depth of the epiphysis relative to a perpendicular line drawn across the proximal humeral physis. RESULTS: The metaphyseal peak had a mean height of 12.7 ± 1.6 mm while the epiphyseal valley had a mean depth of 13.1 ± 2.1 mm, both consistently positioned in the posterolateral quadrant. Both the absolute metaphyseal peak height (R2 = 0.536; p < 0.001) and absolute epiphyseal valley depth (R2 = 0.524; p < 0.001) increase with advancing age. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that normalized metaphyseal peak height + sex (adjusted R2 = 0.408; p < 0.002) correlated more with age than normalized epiphyseal valley depth + sex (adjusted R2 = 0.128; p < 0.091). CONCLUSION: Prominence of the metaphyseal peak and epiphyseal valley both increase with advancing age, with a lower correlation between normalized sizes with age as compared to the absolute sizes, suggesting that these structures stay relatively proportional with growth.

Nonsurgical Management of Cartilage Defects of the Knee: Who, When, Why, and How?

The nonoperative practitioner managing individuals with cartilage defects should use a patient-centered, multifaceted approach that aims to individualize treatment to provide optimal benefit. These include addressing modifiable risk factors for disease progression and instituting interventions such as weight loss, nutrition, physical activity, and potentially regenerative medicine strategies. This review will focus on these nonoperative treatment strategies with a focus on when treatments are necessary, who will benefit from these approaches, why they are specifically appropriate, and, finally, how these treatments directly modify the structure of a patient's cartilage and resulting symptoms.

Outcomes of Nonoperative Pediatric Medial Humeral Epicondyle Fractures With and Without Associated Elbow Dislocation.

BACKGROUND: Medial epicondyle fractures may occur in isolation or with associated elbow dislocation. In the absence of open fracture or fragment incarceration, nonoperative management with immobilization has been shown to result in generally successfully outcomes comparable with those reported after surgical fixation. However, no comparative investigation has assessed outcomes after nonoperative treatment based on the presence or absence of elbow dislocation. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted investigating all studies in the literature reporting nonoperative outcomes for isolated medial epicondyle fractures and fracture-dislocations. Databases included in this review were PubMed, Biosis Preview, SPORTDiscus, PEDro, and EMBASE. We sought to evaluate results related to the incidence and outcomes of bony nonunion and the incidence of elbow stiffness, pain, ulnar neuropathy, cubitus valgus deformity, and laxity between isolated fractures of the medial epicondyle and fracture-dislocations. RESULTS: Review of the literature yielded 7 studied meeting appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria, comprising 81 total patients (n=42 patients with fracture-dislocations, n=39 patients with isolated fracture). Bony nonunion occurred in 69% (n=29) of patients with fracture-dislocation versus 49% (n=19) with isolated fractures (P=0.11); however, both groups had minimal clinical or functional disabilities at final follow-up. Decreased elbow flexion and extension range of motion were significantly more frequent after fracture-dislocation than isolated fractures [43% (n=18) vs. 15% (n=6), respectively, P=0.01], while patients rarely demonstrated pain, ulnar neuropathy, or deformity in the presence or absence of dislocation. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of absolute surgical indication, nonoperative management of isolated medical epicondyle fractures with or without concomitant elbow dislocation seems to be successful with few long-term complications leading to functional disability. However, increased rates of nonunion, elbow stiffness, and elbow laxity may occur with fracture-dislocations, and merit further study with validated functional outcome scores. Further comparative studies are necessary to determine the true indications and outcomes in nonoperatively managed medial epicondyle fractures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II-systematic review of level-II or level-I studies with inconsistent results.

Diagnostic and prognostic value of human prion detection in cerebrospinal fluid.

OBJECTIVE: Several prion amplification systems have been proposed for detection of prions in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), most recently, the measurements of prion seeding activity with second-generation real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC). The objective of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of the RT-QuIC prion test in the broad phenotypic spectrum of prion diseases. METHODS: We performed CSF RT-QuIC testing in 2,141 patients who had rapidly progressive neurological disorders, determined diagnostic sensitivity and specificity in 272 cases that were autopsied, and evaluated the impact of mutations and polymorphisms in the PRNP gene, and type 1 or type 2 human prions on diagnostic performance. RESULTS: The 98.5% diagnostic specificity and 92% sensitivity of CSF RT-QuIC in a blinded retrospective analysis matched the 100% specificity and 95% sensitivity of a blind prospective study. The CSF RT-QuIC differentiated 94% of cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) MM1 from the sCJD MM2 phenotype, and 80% of sCJD VV2 from sCJD VV1. The mixed prion type 1-2 and cases heterozygous for codon 129 generated intermediate CSF RT-QuIC patterns, whereas genetic prion diseases revealed distinct profiles for each PRNP gene mutation. INTERPRETATION: The diagnostic performance of the improved CSF RT-QuIC is superior to surrogate marker tests for prion diseases such as 14-3-3 and tau proteins, and together with PRNP gene sequencing the test allows the major prion subtypes to be differentiated in vivo. This differentiation facilitates prediction of the clinicopathological phenotype and duration of the disease-two important considerations for envisioned therapeutic interventions. ANN NEUROL 2017;81:79-92.