OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of adding acupuncture to standard swallowing training for patients with dysphagia after stroke. DESIGN Single-blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING Inpatient and outpatient clinics. SUBJECTS A total of 124 patients with dysphagia after stroke were randomly divided into two groups: acupuncture and control. INTERVENTIONS The acupuncture group received s...

BACKGROUND A minimal invasive approach for elective hip surgery has been implemented in our institution in the past. It is widely hypothesized that implanting artificial hips in a minimal invasive fashion decreases surgical trauma and is helpful in the rehabilitation process in elective hip surgery. Thereby geriatric patients requiring emergency hip surgery also could theoretically benefit from...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the concurrent validity of the American Heart Association Stroke Outcome Classification (AHA.SOC) and compare performance of its function classification with that of the Modified Rankin Scale. METHODS The individuals in this study included the last 105 consecutive subjects who were part of a cohort of 459 stroke patients in the ...

Myotonic dystrophy type 1, also known as Steinert's disease, is an autosomal dominant disorder with multisystemic clinical features affecting the skeletal and cardiac muscles, the eyes, and the endocrine system. Thiamine (vitamin B1) is a cofactor of fundamental enzymes involved in the energetic cell metabolism; recent studies described its role in oxidative stress, protein processing, peroxiso...

OBJECTIVE to determine contributors to decline in functional capacity in elderly patients with known vascular risk factors or disease. DESIGN secondary analysis of longitudinal data gathered over an average 3.2 years of follow-up. PARTICIPANTS 5,804 community-dwelling subjects aged 70-82 years with a history of, or risk factors for, ischaemic vascular disease. MEASUREMENTS basic activitie...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to investigate whether the consequences of neurologic lesions are underestimated when the Barthel Index (BI) is used to assess the clinical outcome of botulinum toxin injection. PATIENTS AND METHODS The records for all in- and outpatients with various neurologic lesions (stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and so forth) who...

Critical illness impairs physical function. The NONSEDA trial was a multicenter randomized trial, assessing non-sedation versus sedation during mechanical ventilation. aim of this sub-study to assess the effect on All patients from one site were included. At ICU discharge and three months thereafter, survivors assessed for 205 included, 118 survived follow-up, 116 participated (98%). Primary ou...

conscious way to achieve their personal goals. Breaking the cycle of collusion between doctor and patient is not primarily a question of whether the patient has to be informed at all, which usually is the case, but rather how doctors and patients deal with these facts in practice. Awareness cannot be forced on the patient, it can only be supported. This requires an active, patient orientated ap...