Article

Although deficit of coordination between the upper and lower body
segments might play an important role in impairing gait and stability in ataxic
patients, this deficit has not been investigated in subjects with ataxia so far.
To evaluate the coordination between trunk and thigh in a sample of patients with
ataxia compared with healthy controls and to correlate the coordination measures
with the clinical severity. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SUBJECTS:
Sixteen patients with degenerative cerebellar ataxia and sixteen age- and
sex-matched controls were studied. METHODS: We assessed the coordination on the
sagittal plane between trunk and thigh, considered as rigid segments, by the
continuous relative phase (CRP) method. We used the coefficient of multiple
correlation (CMC) to measure the within-subject (CMCWS) variability, and the SARA
scale to assess clinical severity. RESULTS: CRP curves are dissimilar between
ataxic patients and controls, the former showing a chaotic behavior compared to
the well-shaped CRP curves observed in the latter. Trunk-thigh coordination has a
higher within-subject variability in ataxic patients (median CMCWS: 0.53 for
patients, 0.89 for controls, p<0.001). We also found that the CMCWS of the CRP
curves negatively correlates with the gait (rho: -0.565, p: 0.023) and stance
(rho: -0.567, p: 0.022) sub-scores and the total score of the SARA scale (rho:
-0.711, p: 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Ataxia shows a deficit of spatio-temporal
coordination between trunk and thigh. Such a deficit is correlated with the
degree of the clinical impairment indicating an important role of inter-segmental
coordination in determining the severity of ataxia.
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Langue : ANGLAIS