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Stroke patients often have weakness of the shoulder (scapular) stabilizers, which may contribute to motor impairment of the hand and wrist.

of the study was to analyze the effect of stabilization of the affected upper limb and the break in the examination on hand motor coordination and grip strength in patients after stroke in relation to healthy subjects.

An observational study.

A hospital Rehabilitation Department.

Eighty post-stroke patients mean, 62 ± 17 years, and 77 healthy individuals mean, 25,7 ± 6,5 years.

A Hand Tutor device and manual dynamometer were used to measure hand motor coordination parameters. Subjects were assessed in two positions supine with the tested upper extremity extended perpendicularly to the vertical axis of the body (i.e., passive stabilization of the trunk; no stabilization of the shoulder), and supine with the tested upper extremity held close to the body (i.e., passive stabilization of the trunk and shoulder).

Stabilization of the shoulder improved the motor coordination parameters of the fingers and the wrist, and resulted in greater grip strength in post-stroke patients and healthy subjects (P ˂ .001). Local stabilization of the shoulder was particularly beneficial for improving hand motor coordination in females and non-dominant hands.

A stable position of the upper extremity can improve motor coordination and grip strength during stroke rehabilitation.

Placing subjects in a supine position and stabilizing their affected upper limb may help restore motor coordination of the hand and wrist following stroke.

Placing subjects in a supine position and stabilizing their affected upper limb may help restore motor coordination of the hand and wrist following stroke.

A lack of evidence on the reliability limits the utility of the Sunnybrook Facial Grading System (SFGS) in individuals affected by stroke both in clinical and research settings.

To examine the test-retest reliability and the inter-rater reliability of the SFGS in patients affected by subacute stroke.

A repeated-assessments design (fifteen days apart) was used to examine the test-retest reliability of the SFGS.

Inpatient rehabilitation unit.

Thirty-two inpatients with subacute stroke.

Thirty-two inpatients with subacute stroke participated in the test-retest reliability study. All patients were video-recorded in sitting position and uncovered face for about two minutes, in static position to evaluate symmetry at rest, then assessing symmetry of voluntary movement and synkinesis. For the inter-rater reliability, fifteen experts in neurorehabilitation were selected as raters. The facial function was assessed using the Italian version of the SFGS was used as grading system on a recorded video of each aters.

The SFGS resulted reliable in its overall score to assess the facial palsy also in patients affected by stroke.

The findings of this study provide empirical evidence of reliable properties of the SFGS for assessing central facial palsy in patients with stroke.

The findings of this study provide empirical evidence of reliable properties of the SFGS for assessing central facial palsy in patients with stroke.

Few previous studies have reported the efficacy of robot rehabilitation for improving gait ability or its adverse events in patients with neuromuscular diseases.

The aim of the present study was to elucidate the effects of gait training with a hybrid assistive limb (HAL) on gait ability and to investigate serum enzyme levels associated with skeletal muscle damage.

a proof-of-concept study.

Twenty-one patients with neuromuscular disease (13 males and 8 females, mean age of 60.6 years).

Department of rehabilitation medicine in university hospital.

All patients underwent 1 to 7 series of gait rehabilitation which consisted of 9 sessions of HAL training. Gait ability was assessed with the 10-meter walk test and the 2-min walk test before and after HAL training, while serum creatine phosphokinase, aspartate aminotransferase, and lactic acid dehydrogenase values were measured before, midway through, and after HAL training.

Gait velocity and step length for 10-meter walk test, and 2-min walk distance were significantly improved after HAL gait training. There was no significant change in serum level of all 3 measured enzymes between the three time points.

HAL gait training with the practical setting as this study improved gait ability in patients with progressive neuromuscular disease and did not damage skeletal muscle, as indicated by no significant change in serum level of muscle enzymes.

Robot assisted gait training could be safely applied to the patients with neuromuscular diseases, as one of the effective rehabilitation programs to improve gait ability.

Robot assisted gait training could be safely applied to the patients with neuromuscular diseases, as one of the effective rehabilitation programs to improve gait ability.

Preliminary reports suggest a high incidence and mortality with SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients receiving kidney replacement therapy.

To describe the incidence and outcomes of COVID-19 in hemodialyzed (HD) patients.

We conducted a cohort, retrospective, multicenter study on incidence and mortality of COVID-19 in HD patients compared to the adult general population from the beginning of the pandemic until the commencement of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection. C188-9 concentration The study population included all prevalent HD patients in 14 dialysis units of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland on December 31, 2019 and all new subjects starting long-term hemodialysis between January 01, 2020 and January 31, 2021, 1567 patients in total. General population data was obtained from health authorities reports.

The absolute cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 22.4% in HD patients and after age standardization was 3.98 times higher compared to the controls (P<0.001). The epidemic trajectory of both groups ran in parallel, but the increase and the decline in the number of new cases occurred earlier in HD patients. Fatality rate of COVID-19 was 30.4% in HD patients. It was highest among the oldest patients reaching 43.81% among subjects from the age 75 years (P=0.003). Age standardized fatality and mortality rates in HD patients were 5.5 and 10.9 times higher than in controls (both P<0.001).

The results of this study show the extremely high mortality of COVID-19 in HD patients during the first and second wave of the epidemic in the Pomeranian Voivodeship before the vaccination era.

The results of this study show the extremely high mortality of COVID-19 in HD patients during the first and second wave of the epidemic in the Pomeranian Voivodeship before the vaccination era.