Crutch art painting in the middle age as orthopaedic heritage (Part I: the lepers,the poliomyelitis,the cripples)

Throughout time from antiquity, the major objective of crutches was to restore, as close as possible, the functional capacity formerly held by a limb deficient person. The crutch is probably the oldest tool of the orthopaedist. It is probably also the most neglected in terms of progress from antiquity until the 20th century. The aim of this paper is to give a view of the different crutches used in this period by different people and to observe the influence of this period on the progress of the design of crutches.     

Development and factor analysis of an index of post-polio sequelae

Purpose. This present study describes the development, factor structure and initial validation of the Index of Post-Polio Sequelae (IPPS).

Method. The IPPS was tested on a sample of 849 community-dwelling polio survivors between the ages of 40 and 93 years old who participated in a large, national study of menopause and aging in late polio. Items from the IPPS were submitted to a factor analysis using principal components extraction and rotated to oblique simple structure using promax rotation. Convergent validity was assessed using bivariate correlation.

Results. Three factors were extracted that accounted for approximately 53% of the variance in the original IPPS items. Factor 1 (Pain) was loaded most heavily by two items referring to muscle and joint pain. Factor 2 (Atrophy) was loaded by items referring to muscle atrophy, involved muscle weakness, and fatigue. Factor 3 (Bulbar) was comprised of two items referring to breathing and swallowing problems. Bivariate correlations between health and psychosocial variables and each of the factors all were significant and in expected directions.

Conclusions. This first validation of a standardized scale to assess the severity of post-polio sequelae in polio survivors suggests a psychometrically sound instrument whose factor structure represents commonly reported problems in the extant post-polio literature.     

Body composition assessment in Taiwanese individuals with poliomyelitis

Chang K-H, Lai C-H, Chen S-C, Hsiao W-T, Liou T-H, Lee C-M. Body composition assessment in Taiwanese individuals with poliomyelitis.

Objectives

To measure the changes in the total and regional body fat mass, and assess the clinical usefulness of the body mass index (BMI) in detecting overweight subjects with sequelae of poliomyelitis.

Design

Prospective, cross-sectional study.

Setting

General community.

Participants

Subjects with poliomyelitis (n=17; age range, 42–57y; mean, 47y; 12 men, 5 women) and able-bodied people (n=17) matched by sex, age, body weight, and body height participated in the study.

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures

Total and regional body composition was measured with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Clinical characteristics such as blood pressure, serum biochemical studies, and habitual behaviors (daily cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and exercise regimen) of all participants were evaluated.

Results

Compared with able-bodied controls, subjects with poliomyelitis had a 50% greater total body fat mass, significant increases in the regional fat mass in every part of the body, and had the greatest increase of fat mass in the thorax. Nearly all the subjects (94%) with poliomyelitis were obese according to standards of body composition. However, one third of them had a BMI value of less than 25.0kg/m².

Conclusions

People with poliomyelitis have a higher prevalence of obesity and a significant increase in total and regional fat mass. Current BMI underestimates the total body fat mass percentage compared with the control; therefore, a population-specific BMI should be used to address the prevalence of obesity in postpolio survivors.     

Paralytic poliomyelitis in a child with agammaglobulinemia

This paper gives the clinical, immunological and virological data on a patient with agammaglobulinemia who developed paralytic poliomyelitis. The patient was a 3 year-old boy who had a typical B-cell defect without a T-cell defect. He had profound hypogammaglobulinemia and defective plasma cells and had repeated pyogenic infections which were controlled by gammaglobulin replacement therapy. At 3 years of age, he was admitted to our hospital with suspected meningitis. He had fever, tremor and neck stiffness for 3 days and subsequently developed paralysis in his left arm and right leg. There was lymphocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid. A non vaccine-like strain of poliovirus type 2 was isolated from the stool.     

Contribution of experimental paradigms of viral infectious diseases to diagnostic pathology

Pathological analysis of experimental infections has been a useful method in virology. Host selection and route of virus inoculation are the most important determinants in experimental paradigms. Clinical and pathological correlations must be carefully determined in human and experimental infections. The cell tropism, cytopathic effect, and pathogenicity of viruses could be evaluated and defined by analysis of infected tissue. In addition, these infected tissues could be used as positive control for immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization analysis in diagnostic pathology. This review addresses animal paradigms of rabies, influenza, and poliomyelitis as representatives of zoonosis and human-specific infection with respect to animal selection for experimental infections.     

Seronegativity to polio viruses among previously immunized adult candidates to solid organ transplantation

In the current effort to eliminate polio from the world, it is important to recognize and vaccinate susceptible groups, especially immunocompromised patients living in countries where attenuated polio vaccine is still used. In this report, we describe the frequency of protective antibodies in a small sample of adult SOT candidates in whom previous vaccination could be ascertained. Patients included in this report were selected among the participants of an ongoing prospective study carried out at the Reference Center for Special Immunobiologicals of the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Among the first 100 patients enrolled in this study, only seven adult SOT candidates had proven polio vaccination at childhood. Three of these seven patients (43%) had no protective antibody titers to one or more poliovirus subtype before solid organ transplant. Proven childhood vaccination against polio does not reliably provide lifelong protective antibody titers for adult SOT candidates and should not be used as a criterion to analyze the need for vaccination in this population.     

宁夏2004-2007年急性弛缓性麻痹监测系统运行状况的评价

目的 掌握宁夏回族自治区急性弛缓性麻痹病例的流行病学特征,及时发现监测系统存在的问题,为提高监测质量提供依据.方法 对2004-2007年全区报告的AFP病例的个案调查表、随访表进行统计分析.结果 2004-2007年宁夏回族自治区共诊断AFP病例95例,<15岁儿童非脊灰AFP病例年报告发病率分别为1.58/10万、1.23/10万、1.77/10万、2.03/10万;五个市均有病例发生,发病以0-4岁小年龄组为主,占54.7%,男性高于女性;免疫史<3次的16例,占16.9%;95例均为脊灰排除病例,病例最终分类中,格林巴利综合征38例,占40-0%;95例AFP病例的粪便标本经自治区CDC脊灰实验室进行病毒培养,分离到非脊灰肠道病毒(NPEV)11株,NPEV分离率为11.6%;共分离脊灰病毒5株,分离率为5.3%,其中Ⅰ型1株,Ⅱ型1株,Ⅲ型3株,经国家脊灰实验室复核,均为脊灰疫苗株;除2004年吴忠市、2005年石嘴山市、2006年中卫市报告发病率、2004年双份粪便标本采集率未达到要求以外,其它指标均达到了国家的的标准.结论 全区控制脊灰工作今后要继续加强OPV免疫接种工作,提高监测质量,特别是提高病例发现、报告的及时性和提高合格粪便标本的采集.