Clinimetric testing of the Persian version of the Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaires in patients with lateral elbow tendinopathy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the longitudinal validity and responsiveness of the Persian version of Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) in patients with lateral elbow tendinopathy (LET). METHODS: Sixty-four patients with LET completed the PRTEE, DASH, and Global Rating of Change Scale (GRC) at baseline and six weeks. The external and internal responsiveness, floor and ceiling effects, minimal detectable change (MDC) and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) were calculated. RESULTS: No ceiling and floor effects were detected for either the PRTEE or DASH. External responsiveness as an indicator to detect the relationship between change in the measured and external indicator of change was acceptable for both, but higher for the PRTEE (AUC = 0.90; CI: 0.83-0.97) vs. DASH (AUC = 0.80; CI: 69-90). Internal responsiveness to detect intervention related changes indicated slightly superiority in responsiveness for PRTEE. The relative efficiency (1.21), standard effect size (1.14 PRTEE vs. 1.03 DASH), and standard response mean (1.34 PRTEE vs. 1.10 DASH). The MDC were 11 and 12, and MCID were 20 and 18 for the PRTEE and DASH, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Both the DASH and PRTEE were responsive in detecting improvement in patients with LET. The PRTEE was shorter, more efficient, and slightly more responsive which supports its use as a core outcome measure in evaluating patients with LET.Implications for RehabilitationThe Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) compared with the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) is a shorter questionnaire with higher psychometric and clinimetric properties for evaluating the patients with lateral elbow tendinopathy.This supports the use of the PRTEE in evaluating patients with elbow tendinopathy.

Polycaprolactone fumarate acts as an artificial neural network to promote the biological behavior of neural stem cells.

Herein, we investigated the effect of electrospun polycaprolactone fumarate (PCLF) nanofibers on neural stem cell (NSC) behavior in the in vitro setting. Murine NSCs were isolated from adult mice subventricular zone and immunophenotyped by flow cytometry assay and immunofluorescence staining. Cells were cultured on the plastic surface, laminin-coated surface, and electrospun PCLF nanofibers. Cell morphology, attachment, and spreading were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy analysis. Cell viability and proliferation rates were evaluated by MTT assay. The proliferation of plated cells was investigated by monitoring Ki-67-positive cells using flow cytometry analysis. The protein levels of Map-2 and GFAP were detected by using immunofluorescence staining to show neural and astrocyte differentiation capacity. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed an extensive distribution, morphological adaptation, and cell-to-cell connectivity in NSCs upon culture on the PCLF surface. MTT analysis showed that the NSCs had more survival rates on the PCLF surface compared to the laminin and control groups over time (p < 0.05). In contrast to the laminin group, Ki-67 analysis showed a decrease of proliferating cells in the PCLF group. Immunofluorescence staining revealed the prominent increase of Map-2 and GFAP reduction in NSCs from the PCLF group compared to the laminin and control groups, showing the stimulatory effect of PCLF on targeted maturation of NSCs (p < 0.05). In brief, PCLF based construct promotes NSCs morphological adaptation and neuronal differentiation, suggesting PCLF as an appropriate and applicable substrate in neural tissue engineering.