IMPROVEMENT OF GAIT AND BALANCE IN A PATIENT WITH MONOPLEGIA SECONDARY TO CEREBRAL VASCULITIS UTILIZING FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGIC INTERVENTIONS

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event IMPROVEMENT OF GAIT AND BALANCE IN A PATIENT WITH MONOPLEGIA SECONDARY TO CEREBRAL VASCULITIS UTILIZING FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGIC INTERVENTIONS Tea A. Ambjoernrud1 and Susan E. Esposito1* 1 Life University, United States Background: A 70-year old female presented with monoplegia of the right leg after a debilitating episode in 2004 where she was diagnosed with cerebral vasculitis despite negative imaging. She had a right sided circumduction gait and was unable to perform dorsiflexion of the ankle. She necessitated a walker to enable locomotion. Examination revealed a right grade three finger tapping test and bilateral pupils that were unable to hold constriction. She was unable to perform tandem stance and on Romberg’s testing she fell posteriorly. During graphesthesia testing on her right thigh, she was unable to identify 9/10 letters. She was three inches off target during point localization testing of the right thigh. Methods: Gaze stability exercises with the patient’s head in slight flexion, somatosensory exercises such as point localization training with and without vibration, downward optokinetic stimulation and midline stability exercises were prescribed. Midway into care, ankle dorsiflexion and cross-crawl gait training were implemented. Results: The patient was treated twice a week for a total of 15 visits. By the 10th visit she was able to take her first step since the accident without any support. By the 15th visit she could walk four steps without support and perform knee flexion and ankle dorsiflexion. She no longer had a circumduction gait nor needed a walker, but utilized a cane for ambulation. Her balance and endurance had subjectively improved 90% since the start of care. She was able to stand with feet together and eyes closed without falling. Right finger tapping test improved to a grade one. Point localization of the right thigh improved to one inch of accuracy. Conclusion: Years after brain injury, plasticity can still occur with the right types of therapy. Further studies are indicated based on the positive outcomes in this case report. Keywords: Functional Neurology, monoplegia, Cerebral vasculitis, Gait improvement, Balance control Conference: International Symposium on Clinical Neuroscience: TBI and Neurodegeneration, Orlando, Florida, United States, 10 Dec - 14 Dec, 2015. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Case Reports for Poster Presentation Citation: Ambjoernrud TA and Esposito SE (2015). IMPROVEMENT OF GAIT AND BALANCE IN A PATIENT WITH MONOPLEGIA SECONDARY TO CEREBRAL VASCULITIS UTILIZING FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGIC INTERVENTIONS. Front. Neurol. Conference Abstract: International Symposium on Clinical Neuroscience: TBI and Neurodegeneration. doi: 10.3389/conf.fneur.2015.58.00070 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 23 Oct 2015; Published Online: 02 Nov 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Susan E Esposito, Life University, Marietta, GA, 30060, United States, susan.esposito@life.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Tea A Ambjoernrud Susan E Esposito Google Tea A Ambjoernrud Susan E Esposito Google Scholar Tea A Ambjoernrud Susan E Esposito PubMed Tea A Ambjoernrud Susan E Esposito Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.