Issue title: Selected papers and abstracts of the
"XXXIèmes Entretiens de Médecine Physique et de
Réadaptation", Current Concepts in Isokinetics, Montpellier, France,
5–7 March, 2003
Affiliations: [a] Service de Médecine Physique et
Réadaptation du CHRU de Lille, Hôpital Swynghedauw, 59037 Lille
cedex, France. Tel.: +33 3 20 44 58 31; Fax: +33 3 20 44 58 32; E-mail:
v-tiffreau@chru-lille.fr | [b] Institut de Technologie Médicale du CHRU de
Lille, Lille, France
Note: [] Corresponding author
Abstract: The aims of the study were to assess the reproducibility and
validity of very weak knee flexors and extensors muscle strength with a new
isokinetic evaluation procedure. Subjects and methods: Reproducibility mean and maximal work without
correction of gravity was first assessed in 14 neuromuscular patients, at
10°/s. Three patients suffering from Guillain-Barre
Syndrome were then investigated at different states of recovery. Maximal
concentric effort was performed at 10°/s and
30°/s. Acute correction of gravity was performed as
forces values measured during passive mobilisation were removed from active
measurements. Correlation between manual muscle testing and maximal moment and
mean work was explored. Results: Reproducibility was judged acceptable. Intraclass
correlation coefficients ranged from 0.7 to 0.84. In the correlation study,
manual muscle assessment ranged from 2 to 4 and peak of forces ranged from 0.4
Nm to 51.88 Nm. There was a significant positive relationship as Spearman
Correlation coefficients ranged from 0.77 to 0.89. Conclusion: Weak muscle isokinetic evaluation is reproducible and
well correlated to clinical evaluation. This evaluation procedure could be of
great interest in neurological diseases investigations.
