title: Upper extremity function in spina bifida.
abstract: Poor upper extremity function is often recorded in meningomyelocele patients. Only 2 of the 25 patients we assessed, 5 to 19 years old, showed normal upper extremity function in the clinical neurological examination and a timed hand function test simulating daily activities. Slow performance with unsystematic variability was typical. Poor hand function correlated strongly with hydrocephalus. A trend towards better performance with increasing age may indicate that the difficulties are overcome in some patients. While patients without hydrocephalus showed a near-normal distribution in the seven subtests, patients with hydrocephalus needed more time than normal children. Patients with shunt-treated hydrocephalus did not cope as well as patients without a shunt. Mean age in the three groups differed and may partly explain the differences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taudorf
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seitzberg
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000503:physiopathology*