Neurovisual Training With Acoustic Feedback: An Innovative Approach for Nystagmus Rehabilitation.
Damiano Antognetti, Luca Maggiani, Elena Gabbrielli and 3 others
PMID 39822196WHAT IT FOUND
A woman with downbeat nystagmus reported less reliance on a rollator after combined audiovisual, balance, gait, strength, proprioception, trunk control, and treadmill training plus fampridine.
Scores improved more when assessed without fampridine, but the mix cannot show which part helped.
Key findings
01The patient received fampridine plus a 30-session program of audiovisual training, balance and gait exercises, treadmill gait training, lower limb strengthening, proprioception, and trunk control work, so the effect of any single component cannot be separated.
02Visual performance test improvements were larger when assessed without fampridine than with fampridine, and some pursuit improvements were maintained at 6 months without drug.
03Functional scores improved after treatment: Barthel Modified Index increased by 2 points, Berg Balance Scale increased by 11 points, 10-meter walking test speed increased by 8.3%, and timed Up and Go execution time reduced by 47.52%; at 6 months they still exceeded baseline.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This is a single patient case report, so it describes what happened to one person, not a pattern. There was no control group, so improvement cannot be compared with what might have happened without treatment. The patient was taking fampridine and received multiple therapies at once, so the contribution of AV-Desk cannot be separated from balance, gait, strength, proprioception, trunk control, or medication. The authors note potential selection bias. The authors say more extensive, controlled studies are needed to validate these preliminary results.
Declared interests
The investigators reported no financial or nonfinancial disclosures. The AV-Desk device is listed as made by Linari Medical, and the Nidek MP-1 software is listed as Nidek Technologies.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the AV-Desk audiovisual training caused the improvements. The patient also received fampridine, balance and gait exercises, treadmill gait training, lower limb strengthening, proprioception, and trunk control work, and this was a single case without a control group.