Alteration of the load-response mechanism of the knee joint during hemiparetic gait following stroke analyzed by 3-dimensional kinematic.

PURPOSE The aims of this study were to evaluate the variables found in the alteration of the load-response mechanism on 3-dimensional kinematic analysis of the knee joint during hemiparetic gait following stroke. METHODS We evaluated 66 adult patients (33 men and 33 women), aged 45.4 +/- 8.5 years (mean +/- SD), with a diagnosis of ischemic cerebrovascular accident either right or left hemiparesis and brachial prevalence. All the participants underwent 3-dimensional gait evaluation with a Vicon 370, and the values of the angular kinematics of the knee joint were selected for analysis. RESULTS There were no statistically significant differences (by the Kruskal-Wallis test) between the subjects regarding the following variables: angular knee position at initial contact and time of peak knee flexion in the stance. The clinically relevant characteristics found were: an increase in knee joint flexion during the initial contact and a movement amplitude below that anticipated in this phase of the walking cycle. These should be taken into account when choosing the best treatment, because they are the ones which exhibit the most important alteration in the load-response mechanism in all patients. CONCLUSION There is still no consensus among the different specialists regarding the variations in kinematics during the hemiparetic gait. One of the most frequently discussed joints is the knee--the way the main changes take place during the gait cycle and whether the gait velocity changes the patterns of joint mobility.