Treadmill Training After Surgical Removal of a Spinal Tumor in Infancy

Jill C. Heathcock; Catie Christensen; Karah Bush; Marisa Butler; Jeffrey J. Buehner; D. Michele Basso

doi:10.2522/ptj.20130508

Figures

Figure 4.

Pattern of stepping. The percentage of alternating steps on the treadmill increased dramatically as the percentage of single steps decreased. Initially, a response to training occurred during facilitated stepping (solid purple line). Variability in stepping pattern coincided with less facilitation and more unassisted stepping during training (solid orange line). A stable alternating pattern emerged after several months of unassisted stepping and overground (solid green) training. From 21 months on, responsiveness to both unassisted stepping (solid orange line) and facilitated stepping (broken purple line) occurred on the treadmill and overground in the clinic.

Figure 1.

Sagittal T2-weighted magnetic resonance image of the tumor at spinal levels T11 to L4 (arrow) in a 1-day-old infant.

Figure 2.

(A) Test for independent stepping on the treadmill without facilitation. (B) Facilitated step training.

Figure 3.

Stepping frequency. (A) Monthly means and standard deviations of independent steps taken on the treadmill during testing sessions. (B) Comparison of right and left steps that contributed to the average number of steps per minute. An increase in the number of steps was observed over time, with the greatest improvement being noted for the left lower extremity.