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Biomedical subjects

S Griggs

Publications and source records attributed to S Griggs.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Nighttime bracing with the Providence brace in adolescent girls with idiopathic scoliosis.

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study was conducted of 102 consecutive female patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Those patients with Risser 0, 1, and 2 met the criteria for inclusion and were treated only with the Providence brace. OBJECTIVES: To report the authors' experience with a hypercorrective nighttime brace and to evaluate the results with respect to risk factors for progression. Second, the study compares results with expectations from the natural history as reported by others. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Compliance with full-time brace treatment for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis has been a problem. Since the introduction of the Milwaukee brace, alternatives such as low-profile braces, reduced wearing schedules, and nighttime only bracing have been tried. However, many factors influence the success or failure besides compliance. These include in-brace correction, brace design, and the orthotist's skills. This is the first report of the results of treatment with a new nighttime brace that is made with CAD/CAM technology that can achieve higher initial in-brace corrections than other reported methods. METHODS: Results were analyzed with respect to curve size, curve pattern, maturity, and level of the primary curve apex. Both compliant and noncompliant patients were included in the analysis. A univariate analysis was done on those factors thought to influence success with bracing using the Pearson chi2 test. RESULTS: The average initial in-brace correction with a supine radiograph was 96% for major curves and 98% for minor curves. Seventy-five patients (74%) did not progress >5 degrees and 27 patients (26%) progressed > or =6 degrees or went on to surgery. Twenty-nine percent of Risser 0 or 1 patients progressed and 17% of patients Risser 2 progressed. The risk of progression anticipated by natural history data, which included all curve patterns, was 68% for Risser 0 and 1 and 23% for Risser 2. Risser 3 and 4 patients were excluded from the study. Seventy-six percent of patients with curve apexes between T8 and L1 had successful outcomes using the Providence brace. This is compared with a 74% success rate in the prospective Scoliosis Research Society study of patients wearing a thoraco lumbar sacral orthosis for 16 hours per day with curve apexes between T8 and L1. With the Providence brace, 63% of thoracic curves and 65% of double curves were successful. Ninety-four percent of lumbar curves and 93% of thoracolumbar curves were successful. CONCLUSION: Excellent initial in-brace correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis was observed with this computer-designed and manufactured recumbent brace. Patients with high apex curves cephalad to T8 (n = 31) had a success rate of 61% compared with a success rate of 79% (n = 71) if the apex was at or below T9. Compared with previous natural history and the prospective study data, the Providence brace is effective in preventing progression of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis for curves <35 degrees. It was effective for larger curves with a low apex. The authors' experience with patients with curves >35 degrees (n = 8) is too small to validate its effectiveness for larger curves with a higher apex.

Adolescent↗

Prospective longitudinal analysis of postoperative shoulder function : a ten-year follow-up study of full-thickness rotator cuff tears.

BACKGROUND: Rotator cuff repair is associated with good short or mid-term results, but to date there have been no long-term functional outcome studies demonstrating durability of results over time. In most long-term studies, the results have been compared with those of historical controls or with those of other, short-term follow-up studies. The purpose of the present prospective study was to evaluate short and long-term shoulder function after surgical repair in a single population of patients in order to follow changes over time. METHODS: Thirty-three patients underwent surgery, performed by one surgeon, for the treatment of a chronic, symptomatic, full-thickness rotator cuff defect. Data were obtained from questionnaires and physical examinations preoperatively, at two years, and at ten years. Identical standardized pain and function questionnaires were used and clinical evaluation was performed in a consistent fashion at all time-periods. The activity level, Constant score, level of disability, shoulder function score, and patient's subjective rating of the outcome were determined at the time of the final follow-up and compared with the same parameters at the two-year follow-up examination in order to determine if early results change with time. RESULTS: At the ten-year follow-up examination, there was no change in the raw Constant score determined at the two-year examination. When the Constant score was normalized for expected age-related changes, the percentage of patients who had a satisfactory result at ten years was even greater than the percentage at two years. Activity level decreased significantly over the time-period (p = 0.005). At the final follow-up examination, twelve patients worked at the same occupation as they had when the two-year examination was performed, two worked at a less strenuous occupation, and the remaining patients were retired. Only two patients retired because of problems related to the shoulder. The level of disability decreased over the study period, and there was a small improvement in the patients' self-assessment shoulder function score. The patients' subjective assessment of the outcome remained unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: The results of open rotator cuff repair for chronic tears do not deteriorate with time (ten years). The level of disability decreases, presumably because of a concurrent decrease in the activity level and in the demand on the shoulder as the patient ages. It is important to consider age-related changes when assessing the final outcome.

Adult↗

Malgaigne's fracture: the Larrey variant--a case report.

A rare Malgaigne fracture with caudal displacement of the acetabular section is presented. This variant has not received significant mention in existing literature. It is important because it changes the approach to initial stabilization. Treatment is best accomplished with ORIF and placement of a sacral bar. Significant complications would occur if this variant were mistaken and treated with traction.

Accidents, Traffic↗

Changes in the probability of stuttering following a stutter: a test of some recent models.

To test the models of stuttering proposed by Still and Sherrard (1976), six stutterers (two adults and four children between 12 and 14 years old) read 33 or more passages of prose of approximately 200 words, in sessions of 16 or 17 passages. Predictions tested concerned changes in stuttering probability as words elapse following the last stutter. Such changes may be confounded with sequential dependencies among word classes, together with correlations between word classes and stuttering. To allow for this, a multiple regression was carried out on six independent variables--initial phoneme, grammatical class, length of word, position in sentence, session, and familiarity of passage. From this analysis, predicted changes in stuttering probability were generated, and compared with observed probabilities. There was a significant decrease in the difference between observed and expected probabilities over the first 30 words following a stutter. Also, two subjects (the adults) showed an initial increase in rate of stuttering. These results support a combination of the anxiety and feedback models of Still and Sherrard.

Adolescent↗

An analysis of individual differences in words stuttered.

Six stutterers (two adults and four children between 12 and 14 years old) read 33 or more passages of prose of approximately 200 words, in sessions of 16 or 17 passages. Words were classified by initial phoneme, grammatical class, length, and position in sentence, and proportions of stutters were examined as a function of these variables. The extensive data allowed a detailed analysis of individual differences, with the following results. Five subjects showed the usual higher rate of stuttering on consonants, though there were differences in which consonants were stuttered most, and one subject showed more stuttering on vowels. A markedly higher rate was found on initial words of sentences in two subjects, and these two subjects were also exceptional in stuttering more on content than function words, and in showing a type of stutter characterized by blocks rather than repetitions. Possible explanations for this pattern are discussed. Contrary to Taylor (1966) there were significant correlations between stuttering and grammatical class even when initial phoneme and word in sentence were held constant. There were no significant changes within sessions. Two subjects showed a significant decrease between sessions, one showed an increase; these changes were due to familiarity with the experimental situation, rather than with passages per se.

Adolescent↗

An effort to upgrade perinatal nursing practice in Albania.

In 1994 the Jacobi Medical Center in Bronx, New York, and the University Hospital in Tirana, Albania, entered into a partnership designed to upgrade certain aspects of the health care system in Albania. During a 2-week trip, an American contingent of nurses and nurse-midwives worked to increase the knowledge base of Albanian nurses about some of the most important issues in perinatal care and of the roles of nurses and nurse-midwives in the United States as patient advocates and educators.

Albania↗