title: Local Stability of the Trunk in Patients with Degenerative Cerebellar Ataxia During Walking.
abstract: This study aims to evaluate trunk local stability in a group of patients with degenerative primary cerebellar ataxia and to correlate it with spatio-temporal parameters, clinical variables, and history of falls. Sixteen patients affected by degenerative cerebellar ataxia and 16 gender- and age-matched healthy adults were studied by means of an inertial sensor to measure trunk kinematics and spatio-temporal parameters during over-ground walking. Trunk local dynamic stability was quantified by the maximum Lyapunov exponent with short data series of the acceleration data. According to this index, low values indicate more stable trunk dynamics, while high values denote less stable trunk dynamics. Disease severity was assessed by means of International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS) according to which higher values correspond to more severe disease, while lower values correspond to less severe disease.Patients displayed a higher short-term maximum Lyapunov exponent than controls in all three spatial planes, which was correlated with the age, onset of the disease, and history of falls. Furthermore, the maximum Lyapunov exponent was negatively correlated with ICARS balance, ICARS posture, and ICARS total scores.These findings indicate that trunk local stability during gait is lower in patients with cerebellar degenerative ataxia than that in healthy controls and that this may increase the risk of falls. Local dynamic stability of the trunk seems to be an important aspect in patients with ataxia and could be a useful tool in the evaluation of rehabilitative and pharmacological treatment outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, INAILE, Via Fontana Candida 1, 00040, Monte Porzio Catone, Italy.|Movement Analysis LAB, Rehabilitation Centre Policlinico Italia, Piazza del Campidano 6, 00162, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chini
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, INAILE, Via Fontana Candida 1, 00040, Monte Porzio Catone, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ranavolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, INAILE, Via Fontana Candida 1, 00040, Monte Porzio Catone, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Draicchio
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Corso della Repubblica 79, Latina, 40100, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Casali
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Don Gnocchi Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.affiliation: Centre of SpaceBio-Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Mont Pellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Corso della Repubblica 79, Latina, 40100, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leonardi
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Don Gnocchi Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Padua
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology of Vision and Neurophthalmology, G.B. Bietti Foundation-IRCCS, Via Livenza 3, 00198, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Corso della Repubblica 79, Latina, 40100, Italy.|IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, (IS), Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pierelli
authors.affiliation: Movement Analysis LAB, Rehabilitation Centre Policlinico Italia, Piazza del Campidano 6, 00162, Rome, Italy. mariano.serrao@uniroma1.it.|Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Corso della Repubblica 79, Latina, 40100, Italy. mariano.serrao@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serrao
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002524:Cerebellar Ataxia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D060726:Torso / Q000503:physiopathology; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Cerebellar ataxia; Gait; Local dynamic stability; Trunk stability
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