Balance and Walking Improvement After Robotic Assisted Gait Training in Cortico basal Degeneration: A Need for More Studies

Objective: Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD) is a slowly progressive tauopathy, frequently associated with balance and gait impairments with associated increased risk of fall and poorly responding to pharmacological treatments. To date, no data are available about the effectiveness of a rehabilitation programs including robotic-assisted gait training (RAGT) in these patients. Aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of a RAGT program on balance and gait performances in a patient affected by CBD. Subject: A 75-year old female affected by CBD. Methods: The patient was assessed by means of clinical scales and instrumental analysis, at the beginning (T0), after 4 consecutive weeks of conventional physical treatment (CPT) with over ground gait training (T1), and after other 4 consecutive weeks of RAGT, in addition to CPT (T2). Both over ground training and RAGT were performed for 30 minutes/session, 6 sessions/week, for 4 weeks (24 sessions in total). Results: Both conventional gait training and RAGT led to improvements in balance and walking performances, after ground floor gait training and RAGT were reported, with better results after RAGT Conclusions: This study showed that RAGT, more than a ground floor gait training performed in addition to a CPT, can be effective

Author(s): Anna Furnari, Calabro RS, Giampiero Buttacchio, Joseph Ricci, Roberto Casale and Michelangelo Bartolo

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