The patient was a 70-year-old man. He was injured in a motorcycle accident and was brought to the hospital suffering from pulmonary contusions, multiple rib fractures, and a dislocation fracture of the left hip joint. Mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy were performed because of decreased oxygenation. As dysphagia and gait disturbance persisted even after his respiratory condition improved, the patient was transferred to our institution for rehabilitation 63 days after the injury. Rehabilitative intervention for the patient's physical impairments progressed smoothly, and the patient regained independence in activities of daily living. However, 1 week before his scheduled date of discharge, the patient suffered from sudden heart failure at 168 days after the initial injury. Traumatic aortic regurgitation was diagnosed based on the following findings : aortic regurgitation rapidly exacerbated after heart failure, no medical history of heart disease, and no other cause for aortic regurgitation. Surgical treatment with aortic valve replacement was performed. Postoperative recovery was favorable, and the patient was discharged to his home after regaining independence in activities of daily living. Traumatic aortic regurgitation is rare, and patients with this disease often suffer heart failure from a few days to several years after injury. This condition needs to be kept in mind during the rehabilitation process following chest trauma.

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Cerebral venous thrombosis(CVT)is a rare cerebrovascular disorder. However, many reports have suggested that the prognosis of CVT is better than arterial ischemic infarction accompanied with cytotoxic edema. In this report, we present three cases of CVT to explain the possible effectiveness of using a rehabilitation approach. Case 1 was a 51-year-old female oculist with amnestic aphasia and mild right hemiparesis. MRI revealed a massive edematous lesion in the left basal ganglia and thalamus, due to thrombus in the vein of Galen. Speech therapy to facilitate word recall showed remarkable benefit, sufficient enough for her to return to work. Case 2 was a 68-year-old male tax accountant with fluent aphasia. MRI showed multiple contrast-enhanced lesions in his left temporal lobe, due to a lack of venous flow in the left transverse sinus. Speech therapy was also effective enough for him to return to work at 35 days after onset. Case 3 was a 57-year-old male pilot. He suddenly presented severe generalized convulsions controlled by venous anesthetic under mechanical ventilation, due to CVT in the superior sagittal sinus with bilateral frontal hemorrhagic infarction. After extubation, he was transferred to our hospital at 38 days after the disease onset, presenting frontal lobe dysfunction, including apathy, emotional incontinence, and grasp reflexes. During 43 hospitalization days, physical and occupational therapy resulted in drastic improvement in this patient's Barthel index score, from 0 to 50. In conclusion, an early rehabilitation approach should be recommended for CVT, since a better prognosis can be anticipated than in arterial ischemic infarction, regardless of the severity of original brain damage.

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Development of an Ankle-Foot-Orthosis and its Clinical Evaluation…Sumiko YAMAMOTO 11

Intelligent Prosthesis, Development of the Hardware and Software…Akio NAKAGAWA 17

Development and Clinical Application of Myoelectric Hand…Takaaki CHIN 21

Development and Clinical Application in Functional Electrical Stimulation…Yoichi SHIMADA, Toshiki MATSUNAGA, Akiko MISAWA, Mineyoshi SATO, Kazutoshi HATAKEYAMA, Satoaki CHIDA, Takehiro IWAMI, Tomoya KAWAWADA, Kazuto MIYAWAKI 24

Development of Locomotion Assist Robot and Clinical Application…Yoshihiro MURAOKA, Shigeo TANABE, EIICHI SAITOH, Takahiro KAGAWA, Yoji UNO 29

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