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Biomedical subjects

G Felsenthal

Publications and source records attributed to G Felsenthal.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Across-tarsal-tunnel motor-nerve conduction technique.

Tarsal tunnel syndrome is a commonly considered compression of the tibial nerve and its plantar divisions as the nerve curves behind the medial malleolus underneath the flexor retinaculum. Motor, sensory, and/or mixed-nerve conduction studies are used to confirm or exclude the presence of compression of the posterior tibial nerve and its plantar divisions. In previous studies, stimulation has been done either proximal to the tunnel or distally in the sole of the feet or in the toes. Thus, differentiation between compression of the nerve within the proximal tarsal tunnel, as distinguished from compression of the plantar nerves in the distal tarsal tunnel or distal to the tunnel, has not been feasible. In addition, onset latency is frequently difficult to measure, and peak latencies have not been reported for the motor-evoked action potential. This study reports across-tarsal-tunnel latencies and amplitude decrements for both the medial and the lateral plantar nerves. For the medial plantar nerve with active electrodes placed over the medial head of the flexor pollicis brevis, the calculated mean + 2SD across tunnel onset latency is 3.2msec, peak latency is 2.9msec, and amplitude decrement is 29.3%. For the lateral plantar division, the calculated across-tunnel onset latency is 3.2msec, peak latency is 2.9msec, and amplitude decrement is 27.2%. Medial plantar nerve latency distal to the tarsal tunnel for the mean + 2SD is 5.9msec to onset and 9.5msec to peak, and the lateral plantar nerve latency is onset 5.9msec and peak 9.7msec.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation. I: Clinical and didactic experience.

A survey was conducted to determine the type of clinical and didactic training experience that was provided to resident trainees in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) in the 1987-1988 academic year. Chief residents from 43 (61%) of the 70 PM&R programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education responded. According to respondents, the programs averaged 12.6 residents. The residents spent an average of 18.5 months on an inpatient bedservice, 12.6 months on outpatient exposures, and the remainder of the time attending other clinical experiences and didactic training. Forty percent of those responding reported that their programs required in-house call in postgraduate years (PGYs) 2 through 4, and 53% of the programs required no in-house call during the same clinical years. Seven percent of the programs required in-house call in PGYs 2 and 3, but none in PGY 4. The average time spent in electrodiagnostic studies was 7.6 months (range = 2 to 19 months). Electromyography exposure by completion of PGY 4 also varied widely, from 40 to 500 studies. Resident trainee exposure to inpatient and outpatient spinal cord injury, closed head injury, pediatric rehabilitation, sports medicine, and geriatric medicine, and rehabilitation fellowship positions being offered through the responding PM&R residency training programs were also surveyed. Some instances of apparent program imbalances or inadequate training which could reduce the scope of a resident's educational experience were noted.

Internship and Residency↗
PubMed1990

Brain injury obscured by chronic pain: a preliminary report.

Chronic pain patients and brain injured patients frequently exhibit anxiety, depression, perseveration, and fixed ideation about their injuries. Both populations also frequently suffer from decreased attention, impaired concentration, easy fatigability, personality changes, impaired relationships with family and friends, and difficulty maintaining a job. In cases where chronic pain coexists with traumatic brain injury, the brain injury is often obscured. Risk factors which should alert the medical team to possible coexisting brain injury include history of loss of consciousness at original injury, history of trauma to the head, whiplash injury to the neck, multisystem trauma, and admission of memory or attention deficits by the patient. When any of these risk factors are present, we have found that formal examination of cognitive function is required to explore the potential of coexisting brain injury; if pain is a prominent clinical feature, residual cognitive sequelae of mild brain injury is easily masked. Specific testing of attention, new learning ability, constructional ability, and higher cognitive functions are most helpful in this population, and they need to be included in the mental status examination when concomitant brain injury is suspected. In our study, seven patients were found to have undiagnosed brain injury in a series of 67 consecutive patient referrals to our pain rehabilitation program. Treatment failure is high in this subgroup of pain patients unless treatment is directed toward the sequelae of both brain injury and chronic pain.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Rehabilitating older patients: primary care evaluation, treatment, and resources.

Elderly patients with functionally significant disabilities and handicaps may benefit from a comprehensive rehabilitation program. Patients may be treated while hospitalized or as outpatients. Age itself is not a contraindication to such a program and impaired mentation is not an absolute contraindication. Physiologic changes of aging may adversely affect function, but these effects may be partially reversible (if exacerbated by inactivity)--or may be compensated for by appropriate training. Emphasis is on functionally significant goals that can be achieved within a generally predictable period of time. The achievement of these significant goals would allow the patient to remain in or return to a home setting and avoid institutionalization. Through informed patient assessment and referral, the primary care physician can make optimal use of this resource.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1989

Across-elbow ulnar nerve sensory conduction technique.

Compression of the ulnar nerve across the elbow is one of the most common of the entrapment syndromes. The usual method of electrodiagnostic evaluation is to determine the motor nerve conduction for this nerve segment. Normal values for sensory conduction and amplitude changes for this nerve segment have been rarely reported, and clinical usefulness of the sensory techniques remains unclear and controversial. This study reports an ulnar nerve sensory technique for the across-elbow segment. Normal data with the elbow flexed to 90 degrees and for a 10-cm nerve segment were 1.8msec, mean +2SD for sensory latency measured to onset and 1.9msec to peak. Comparable motor latency was 2.0msec. Sensory amplitude decrement across the elbow was 41% mean +2SD and 7.6% for the comparable motor amplitude decrement. Three cases of ulnar nerve compression at the elbow are reported, exemplifying that this technique appears to be useful particularly in patients with sensory, as opposed to mixed (sensory and motor), clinical abnormalities.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Carpal tunnel syndrome in the nonparetic hands of hemiplegics. Stress-induced by ambulatory assistive devices.

Three patients who had earlier sustained an acute stroke were admitted to a rehabilitation bed service. Clinically, they developed symptoms suggestive of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in their nonparetic hands during a progressive ambulation training program which included ambulatory assistive devices. In each patient, the diagnosis was confirmed by electrodiagnostic evaluation. Two of the three patients were subsequently provided with forearm platform attachments for their assistive devices, and cock-up wrist splints, in an attempt to decrease compression of the median nerve. Despite these measures, both remained symptomatic and had electrodiagnostic evidence of progressive CTS. They were referred for surgical decompression of the median nerve. The third patient had resolution of symptoms when she became able to ambulate without need of an assistive device. These cases are examples of CTS secondary to excessive pressure in the nonparetic hands of hemiparetic patients, believed to occur more frequently than is clinically recognized.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Proximal forearm ulnar nerve conduction techniques.

Compression of the ulnar nerve across the elbow is a common clinical diagnosis frequently referred for electrodiagnostic evaluation. Motor conduction studies with recording over the abductor digiti minimi and stimulating proximal and distal to the ulnar notch have been the standard technique employed in these evaluations--mean, 60.0 m/s; SD 5.0 m/s. Two other techniques are described, with data from normal subjects, recording from proximal forearm muscles. One technique is a refinement of a previously described method recording from the flexor carpi ulnaris--mean, 63.0 m/s; SD, 4.7 m/s. The second is a newly developed technique recording from the flexor digitorum profundus--mean, 63.0 m/s; SD, 5.5m/s. All three methods were found to have a small range of comparable normal values, and appear to be easily and quickly performed with reliable and reproducible information. The techniques described enhance specific localization of ulnar nerve lesions, and may prove useful when more distal recording sites are unavailable.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1986

Radial sensory conduction in the hand.

Radial sensory conduction has traditionally been performed by stimulating the nerve at the wrist, recording from the thumb or the base of the first web space. This paper describes a technique for measuring conduction in the more distal branches on the dorsum of the hand. Comparison is made with dorsal ulnar sensory conduction, and the area supplied by each nerve on the dorsum of the hand is investigated. Radial conduction was found obtainable to the area between the second and third metacarpals (MCPs) in all patients with a velocity of 56.8 +/- 4.2 m/sec. Conduction to the space between the third and fourth MCPs could be obtained in only 65% of the hands with a mean velocity of 58.9 +/- 4.5 m/sec. Dorsal ulnar sensory conduction to the same area was 59 +/- 4.2 m/sec and was present in 73% of the hands. Forty percent of patients have both radial and ulnar innervation to the area between the third and fourth MCPs on at least one side, while 33% have both radial and ulnar innervation to this area bilaterally.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Evoked sensory nerve action potentials: effect of different recording electrodes on distal latencies and amplitudes.

The evoked sensory nerve action potentials (ESAP) of the median nerve were studied in 20 subjects using an antidromic technique, recording the distal latency to onset and to peak, and peak to peak amplitude, using three different recording electrodes. The electrodes used were the TECA digital ring electrodes, AERO MED wire loop stretch and squeeze-type electrodes, and Neurodiagnostic finger clip electrodes. Because the Neurodiagnostic finger clip electrodes are wider than the others, they were placed at different points over the proximal and distal interphalangeal joints to evaluate any changes in the ESAP caused by different interelectrode distance. The values obtained for the distal latencies and amplitudes for each electrode were compared using the unpaired Student's t-test. There were no statistically significant differences found in the ESAP distal latencies to onset or peak using any of the electrodes or various placements. When comparing the amplitude responses, the only statistically significant difference was noted when the TECA digital ring electrodes were compared to a particular arrangement of the Neurodiagnostic finger clip electrodes (p less than 0.05). It was therefore concluded that any of these electrodes can be used to obtain reliable reproducible data for nerve conduction studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Medication education program in an inpatient geriatric rehabilitation unit.

All patients admitted during a 6-month period to an inpatient geriatric rehabilitation unit were started on a medication education program incorporated into the rehabilitation program and utilizing existing staff. Patients were evaluated at admission, discharge, 90-day, and 1 year follow-up, using an 8-point medication knowledge scale. Of the 62 patients included in this study, at discharge 35 (group I, mean age 75.9) knew their medications and went home, 10 (group II, mean age 76.8) did not know their medications and went home, and 17 (group III, mean age 79.3) did not go home, whether they knew their medications or not. Mean length of stay (days) was: group I-30.9; group II-38.9; group III-33.3. This study describes a program for teaching an inpatient geriatric age group population self-medication management.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

Palmar conduction time of median and ulnar nerves of normal subjects and patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.

The wrist-palm conduction time for the median and ulnar nerves was determined using antidromic technique in thirty normal subjects. For the median nerve, the conduction time was 1.6 msec. to initial deflection from baseline and 1.7 msec. to peak of the initial negative deflection for the mean plus 2 SD. The median wrist-palm conduction time was then compared to the difference between the median and ulnar wrist-digit conduction times (mean plus 2 SD of 0.5 msec. measured either to initial deflection or peak negative deflection) in order to determine which technique aids more in the electrodiagnosis of patients with a presumptive clinical diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome but which normal distal sensory latencies. It was found in ten patients that the results of these two electrodiagnostic methods paralleled each other, and neither appeared more sensitive than the other in establishing the diagnosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Sensory conduction in the musculocutaneous nerve.

This report describes an antidromic technique for studying conduction in the sensory branch of the musculocutaneous nerve, the lateral cutaneous nerve of the forearm. Surface stimulation was done at the elbow where the nerve becomes superficial, and surface recordings were made 12 cm distally over the course of the nerve. Sixty nerves in 30 normal persons were examined. The mean latency to onset of the action potential was 1.8 +/- 0.1 msec with a mean conduction velocity of 65 +/- 3.6 meters/sec. Mean amplitude of the action potential was 24 +/- 7.2 muv.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1978

Median and ulnar muscle and sensory evoked potentials.

The medical literature was reviewed to find suggested clinical applications of the study of the amplitude of evoked muscle action potentials (MAP) and sensory action potentials (SAP). In addition, the literature was reviewed to ascertain the normal amplitude and duration of the evoked MAP and SAP as well as the factors affecting the amplitude: age, sex, temperature, ischemia. The present study determined the normal amplitude and duration of the median and ulnar MAP and SAP in fifty normal subjects. The amplitude of evoked muscle or sensory action potentials depends on multiple factors. Increased skin resistance, capacitance, and impedance at the surface of the recording electrode diminishes the amplitude. Similarly, increased distance from the source of the action potential diminishes its amplitude. Increased interelectrode distance increases the amplitude of the bipolarly recorded sensory action potential until a certain interelectrode distance is exceeded and the diphasic response becomes tri- or tetraphasic. Artifact or poor technique may reduce the potential difference between the recording electrodes or obscure the late positive phase of the action potential and thus diminish the peak to peak amplitude measurement. Intraindividual comparison indicated a marked difference of amplitude in opposite hands. The range of the MAP of the abductor pollicis brevis in one hand was 40.0--100% of the response in the opposite hand. For the abductor digiti minimi, the MAP was 58.5--100% of the response of the opposite hand. The median and ulnar SAP was between 50--100% of the opposite SAP. Consequent to these findings the effect of hand dominance on the amplitude of median and ulnar evoked muscle and sensory action potentials was studied in 41 right handed volunteers. The amplitudes of the median muscle action potential (p less than 0.02) and the median and ulnar sensory action potentials (p less than 0.001) were significantly less in the dominant hand. There was no significant difference between the ulnar muscle action potentials or for the median and ulnar distal motor and sensory latencies in the right and left hands of this group of volunteers.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1978

Comparison of evoked potentials in the same hand in normal subjects and in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.

The amplitude of the evoked median and ulnar sensory action potential (SAP) was measured in fifty normal volunteers (4) and median and ulnar SAP in opposite hands were compared. In addition, the amplitude of the median response was compared to the ulnar response. It was found that the lower limit of the range of observations for the median amplitude was 20 muV, the range of observations for the median/median SAP ratio was 50--100%, and that in only 3 observations out of 100 normal hands was the median/ulnar SAP ratio less than 80%. In a series of 60 patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), 22 had bilateral involvement. The median SAP was obtainable in 62 of these diagnosed cases of CTS. Forty of these 62 cases could be identified by one of the three amplitude criteria: median SAP of less than 20 muV; median/median amplitude percentage of less than 50%; or a median/ulnar amplitude of less than 80%.

Action Potentials↗