The Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMT) causes significant muscular deficits in the affected patients, restricts daily activities (ADL), and involves a severe disability. Although the conservative intervention is the only treatment for the disease, there is no scientific evidence so far on rehabilitation treatment. Objectives of the review are: research the best literary evidence so far on the rehabilitation treatment of CMT; critically analyze the outcome, to build an evidence-based work protocol.A systematic review of the rehabilitation of a patient with CMT, including the results from the following databases: Pubmed, Medline, Embase, Pedro, Cinahl, Ebsco discovery. Criteria for inclusion: randomized/controlled studies, analytic studies, transversal studies on a cohort of at least 10 individuals; medium/long-term report of the results.Eleven studies in total have been admitted to the final review phase; trials about physiotherapy CMT treatment (5), about orthosis treatment (6). Despite the wide range of outcomes and proposed interventions, the data points to the following: strength or endurance trainings improve functionality and ADLs of affected patients, while orthotic role is, at the moment, not completely clear.Physiotherapy treatment is a useful tool to manage CMT; more studies on a larger number of cases are needed to define orthosis utility and to establish the gold standard of the treatment.

The population of Gulu District (northern Uganda) has been severely incapacitated by war, epidemics and social disruption. This study is aimed at describing disease patterns and trends in this area through a retrospective analysis of discharge records for 155205 in-patients of Lacor Hospital in the period 1992-2002. The burden of infectious diseases in childhood is overwhelming, with malaria accounting for the steepest increase in admissions. Admissions for war-related injuries and malnutrition fluctuated with the intensity of the war and the severity of famine. Emerging and re-emerging infections, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and Ebola, accounted for a heavy disease burden; however, there has been a trend for admissions related to HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis to decrease since the implementation of community-based services. Vulnerable groups (infants, children and women) accounted for 79.8% of admissions. Long-term war, population displacement, the collapse of social structures and the breakdown of the health system place people at a much greater risk of persistent, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, malnutrition and war-related injuries, shaping the 'disease profile of poverty'. Most of the disease burden results from infectious diseases of childhood, whose occurrence could be dramatically reduced by low-cost and effective preventive and curative interventions.

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Measuring muscle properties with SWE, a non-invasive and real-time technique, may integrate the physical exam. SWE may be a reliable clinical tool for diagnosis and longitudinal monitoring of muscle stiffness, as well as particularly suitable for grading and for assessing the response to treatments.

Rett syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that affects brain development and causes severe mental and physical disability. This systematic review analyzes the most recent evidence concerning the role of physical therapy in the management of individuals with Rett syndrome. The review was carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. A total of 17319 studies were found in the main scientific databases. Applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 22 studies were admitted to the final phase of the review. Level of evidence of the included studies was assessed using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine—Levels of Evidence guide. Nine approaches to physical therapy for patients with Rett syndrome were identified: applied behavior analysis, conductive education, environmental enrichment, traditional physiotherapy with or without aids, hydrotherapy, treadmill, music therapy, computerized systems, and sensory-based treatment. It has been reported that patients had clinically benefited from the analysed approaches despite the fact that they did not have strong research evidence. According to the results, a multimodal individualized physical therapy program should be regularly recommended to patients with Rett syndrome in order to preserve autonomy and to improve quality of life. However, more high-quality studies are needed to confirm these findings.

National and international healthcare organizations propose guidelines for physical activity worldwide, defining its characteristics. These guidelines’ practical applications are difficult to estimate, since they are not fully followed. The aim of the present cross-sectional observational study was to assess awareness about guidelines for physical activity and to evaluate their practical applications in a sample of the Italian population. In total, 310 participants completed an online survey (mean age 29.10 ± 4.44), assessing the habits, beliefs and health effects of physical activity. In total, 39.35% of respondents were inactive. In total, 6.91% of active respondents did not perform a warm-up phase at the beginning of each training session and 77.14% did not check their own heart rate during the training session. Approximately half of respondents reported erroneous beliefs about the type, frequency and volume of physical activity, compared to data proposed by the guidelines. The preventive effect of physical activity was clearly perceived for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and depression. Several subjects misinterpreted the preventive role of physical activity in colon and breast cancers, and in femur and vertebral fractures. Habits and beliefs about physical activity in the general population are far from the guidelines and recommendations. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the conscious practice of physical activity further.

The brachial plexus represents a complex anatomical structure in the upper limb. This “network” of peripheral nerves permits the rearrangement of motor efferent fibers, coming from different spinal nerves, in several terminal branches directed to upper limb muscles. Moreover, afferent information coming from different cutaneous regions in upper limb are sorted in different spinal nerves through the brachial plexus. Severe brachial plexus injuries are a rare clinical condition in the general population and in sport medicine, but with dramatic consequences on the motor and sensory functions of the upper limb. In some sports, like martial arts, milder injuries of the brachial plexus can occur, with transient symptoms and with a full recovery. Clinical evaluation represents the cornerstone in the assessment of the athletes with brachial plexus injuries. Electrodiagnostic studies and imaging techniques, like magnetic resonance and high-frequency ultrasound, could be useful to localize the lesion and to define an appropriate treatment and a functional prognosis. Several conservative and surgical techniques could be applied, and multidisciplinary rehabilitative programs could be performed to guide the athlete toward the recovery of the highest functional level, according to the type of injury.

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