Leg Position in Pusher Syndrome
Author Information
Author(s): Johannsen Leif, Broetz Doris, Karnath Hans-Otto
Primary Institution: University of Tübingen, Germany
Hypothesis
Can spontaneous postural responses of the non-paretic leg and head during passive body tilt help in understanding pusher syndrome in stroke patients?
Conclusion
Pusher patients show a constant ipsiversive tilt of the non-paretic leg during passive body tilt, indicating a disturbed representation of body orientation.
Supporting Evidence
- Pusher patients showed a constant ipsiversive tilt of the non-paretic leg during passive body tilt.
- The leg-to-trunk orientation in pusher patients was significantly different from other groups.
- Patients with acute unilateral vestibular loss did not show altered leg posture during passive tilt.
Takeaway
Some stroke patients push themselves to one side because they feel like they're standing straight when they're not. This study looked at how their legs move when tilted to see if it can help identify this problem.
Methodology
The study compared postural responses of stroke patients with pusher syndrome to those without, patients with vestibular loss, and non-brain-damaged controls during passive body tilt.
Potential Biases
Potential biases due to the inability to perfectly match groups on all demographic and clinical criteria.
Limitations
The groups were not perfectly matched in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics, particularly regarding the severity of paresis.
Participant Demographics
9 pusher patients, 9 brain-damaged controls, 7 vestibular loss patients, and 10 non-brain-damaged controls.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.053
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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