Study design: Cross-sectional study. Objectives: The main goal of our study was to explore the differences in heart rate variability (HRV) while sitting between able-bodied (AB) participants and paraplegic (P) individuals. Setting: The study was conducted in the Physical Therapy department and the Physical Education and Sports department of the University of Valencia and Vall d'Hebrón Hospital. Methods: To record the HRV, a 1000-Hz Suunto Oy t6 heart rate monitor was used. The data were analyzed in the temporal and frequency domains, and nonlinear analysis was performed as well. Results: We found significant differences between P and AB participants in SDNN: t(76) = 2.81, Po0.01; root mean squared of the difference of successive RR intervals: t(76) = 2.35, Po0.05; very low frequency: t(76) = 2.97, Po0.01; low frequency: t(41.06) = 2.33, Po0.05; total power of the spectrum: t(45.74) = 2.57, Po0.05; SD1: t(76) = 2.35, Po0.05; SD2: t(76) = 2.82, Po0.01. Furthermore, there is a reduced variability in the P participants who adopted a sedentary lifestyle as could be observed in detrended fluctuation1 t(40) = − 2.10; Po0.05. Conclusion: Although individuals in the P group were more active in sports than the AB group, they had an altered HRV when compared with AB individuals. It could be important to develop more intense sports programs to improve cardiac vagal tone, which in turn produces a decrease in work and oxygen consumption of the heart.
This case report concerns a 49-year-old woman whose physical examination was remarkable for symmetrical swollen hands, fingers and palmar fascial thickening with erythema. The fingers showed flexion contractures. Examination also revealed markedly limited bilateral shoulder and limited knee flexion.The patient's symptoms were treated with rehabilitation. The immunological laboratory investigations were normal. A technetium scan showed a slightly increased uptake in both shoulders, wrists, hips, knees and ankles. CT revealed a pelvic solid mass next to the uterus. After the patient underwent a total hysterectomy and anexectomy, the polyarthritis showed a gradual improvement but the contractures in the hands persisted.Palmar fasciitis and polyarthritis syndrome (PFPAS) is an uncommon rheumatic disorder consisting of pain, swelling, stiffness, progressive flexion contractures of both hands and thickening of palmar fascia, with erythrosis. It was first described as a paraneoplastic phenomenon with ovarian carcinoma in 1982.The characteristic hand deformities of PFPA should alert the clinician to search for an underlying malignant disease.
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