Faculty Bibliography

We used Infra Red (IR) thermography to evaluate gender differences in local thermal regulation, assessing the response of 18 men and 16 women to a 30-second immersion of the dominant hand and digits in water maintained at 3-5degreesC. IR images-taken prior to immersion, immediately after withdrawal, at 15 second intervals for 5 minutes and 30-second intervals for the final 5 minutes -were analyzed to obtain surface temperature of the index finger and dorsum of the hand. Men had higher baseline temperatures than women in both hand and finger (P<0.01). Within sex, there were no hand-finger temperature differences. Immediately after withdrawal, temperatures showed that the finger had cooled more than the hand. The contralateral hand and finger showed a modest drop in temperature. After 10 minutes, men's and women's hands had rewarmed to 91.5 +/- 1% and 86.5 +/- 0.9% (m +/- SE) of baseline, respectively (p<0.001). Men's fingers rewarmed to 89.5 +/- 3.1%, while women's rewarmed to 77.0 +/- 3% (p<0.008). Although our data showed a broad spectrum of rewarming patterns, particularly in fingers, we were able to divide them into slow rewarmers (<90% return to baseline: 12 women, 5 men) and fast rewarmers (>90% of baseline: 13 men, 4 women). Fast rewarmers demonstrated a vasodilation absent in slow rewarmers. As the contralateral side showed a similar pattern, our data suggest that local rewarming is partly mediated by a reflex mechanism that is more prevalent and/or effective in men than women, possibly helping explain the higher incidence of cold-induced vasospastic disorder in women

The aim of this study was to assess whether persons with hemiparesis will yield statistically reliable test-retest tracking performance on a procedure using limb-generated, compatibly displayed, myoelectric video feedback. A convenience sample of 50 inpatients and outpatients with upper extremity involvement of at least six months were recruited. 30 had hemiparesis and had both upper extremities tested. 20 had hemiplegia and had the nonparetic upper extremity tested. Tracking skill was measured as mean tracking error. Repeated measures analysis of variance yielded statistically significant effects of main factors: Response mode, Cursor Feedback, and Session. Extremity tested was not significant. Performance with involved limb, uninvolved limb, isometric mode, and isotonic mode all yielded positive rest-retest correlations. The reliable range of tracking error obtained from subjects with hemiparesis performing a task requiring modulation of compatibly displayed myoelectric output supports the therapeutic rationale for employing compatibly displayed video feedback in the rehabilitation of motor control

Hypersensitivity syndrome is a rare but potentially fatal reaction to some pharmacologic agents, including some antiepileptic drugs. Typically, the syndrome presents with fever, rash, tender lymphadenopathy, hepatitis, and eosinophilia. We report a novel case of clinical hypersensitivity syndrome secondary to gabapentin. A patient developed altered mental status, fever, diffuse macular rash, and an enlarged spleen. This constellation of symptoms and signs began 9 days after gabapentin therapy was begun. Quick resolution was noted after gabapentin was discontinued. To our knowledge, there are no reports of hypersensitivity syndrome to gabapentin