Abstract
Poor upper extremity function is often recorded in meningomyelocele patients. Only 2 of the 25 patients we assessed, 5 to 19 years old, showed normal upper extremity function in the clinical neurological examination and a timed hand function test simulating daily activities. Slow performance with unsystematic variability was typical. Poor hand function correlated strongly with hydrocephalus. A trend towards better performance with increasing age may indicate that the difficulties are overcome in some patients. While patients without hydrocephalus showed a near-normal distribution in the seven subtests, patients with hydrocephalus needed more time than normal children. Patients with shunt-treated hydrocephalus did not cope as well as patients without a shunt. Mean age in the three groups differed and may partly explain the differences.
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Jansen, J., Taudorf, K., Pedersen, H. et al. Upper extremity function in spina bifida. Child's Nerv Syst 7, 67–71 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247859
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247859