Article

The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of administration of
an anabolic steroid (AS) without the addition of specific training in stroke
patients by measuring the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the thigh.
Twenty-six hemiplegic stroke patients during subacute rehabilitation were
randomly assigned to a metenolone enanthate (ME) administration group or a control group (CT group). In the ME group, ME (100 mg) was injected
intramuscularly weekly for 6 wks in the ME group. The CSA of the bilateral thigh
muscles was measured using computed tomography. Motor subscore of the Functional
Independence Measure (FIM-M) was assessed before the experimental period.
RESULTS: At the end of 6 wks, the CSA increase in the ME group (13.4%, affected
side; 14.5%, unaffected side) was significantly larger than that in the CT group
(3.3%, affected side; 5.2%, unaffected side). Correlation coefficients between
the initial FIM-M score and the CSA increase at 6 wks were -0.754 for the
affected side and -0.567 for the unaffected side in the ME group and 0.199 for
the affected side and 0.431 for the unaffected side in the CT group. CONCLUSIONS:
ME administration is effective for improving muscle CSA and, thus, muscle
strengthening in stroke rehabilitation. The CSA increase in the ME group was most
prominent in patients with a low initial FIM-M score.

Langue : ANGLAIS