Affiliations: Posture and Movement Laboratory, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Scientific Institute of Veruno (NO), Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri (IRCCS), Veruno (NO), Italy | Department of Translational Medicine, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy | Centro Studi Attivitá Motorie (CSAM), Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri (IRCCS), Scientific Institute of Pavia, Pavia, Italy | Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Prof. Antonio Nardone, MD, PhD, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri (IRCCS), Scientific Institute of Veruno, & Department of Translational Medicine, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy, Via Revislate 13, 28010 Veruno (NO), Italy. Tel.: +39 0322 884930; Fax: +39 0322 884921; E-mail: antonio.nardone@fsm.it
Abstract: Purpose: To investigate whether the response to rehabilitation differs between patients with abnormalities of balance and gait due to vascular or to degenerative cerebellar disease. Methods: We reviewed the outcome of 27 cerebellar patients. Fourteen patients with vascular and 13 with degenerative cerebellar disease underwent a 3-week inpatient physical therapy program for 5 days/week, 90 min/day, focused on balance and gait. Body sway area during quiet stance with eyes open and eyes closed, and gait velocity, stride length, cadence and step width were recorded. The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM) were administered. All tests were performed before and after treatment. Results: Before treatment, both groups showed comparable values in all sway and gait variables and in BBS. FIM score was higher in degenerative than vascular patients. After treatment, a significant reduction of body sway area was observed under both visual conditions in both groups. Gait velocity, stride length and step width improved more in the vascular than in the degenerative patient group. BBS improved in both groups. FIM improved to a larger extent in the vascular patients. Conclusion: Short-term treatment may not be sufficient to produce definite improvement in locomotion in degenerative as much as occurs in vascular patients, even if clinical and functional signs of balance improve in both groups.
