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Background: The toes play an important stabilizing role in weightbearing activities. However, the factors that influence toe plantarflexion strength are poorly understood, and there are no validated measures for assessing toe weakness in the clinical setting. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine whether plantarflexion strength of the toes differs according to age and gender and to evaluate the validity of a clinical screening test for assessing toe plantarflexor weakness (the paper grip test). Methods: Plantarflexion strength of the hallux and lesser toes was measured in 40 young participants (20 men and 20 women, mean age 20.8 ± 2.2 years) and 40 older participants (20 men and 20 women, mean age 74.6 ± 5.7 years) using a pressure platform in conjunction with clinical assessment using the paper grip test. Results: Older participants exhibited 32% less plantarflexion strength of the hallux and 27% less plantarflexion strength of the lesser toes compared to younger participants, and women exhibited 42% less hallux plantarflexor strength than men. Gender did not influence lesser toe plantarflexor strength. Participants who failed the paper grip test exhibited significantly reduced plantarflexion strength for both the hallux and lesser toes. The sensitivity and specificity of the paper grip test of the hallux to predict plantarflexor strength less than 2.6 kg was 80% and 79%, respectively, and the sensitivity and specificity of the paper grip test of the lesser toes to predict plantarflexor strength less than 2.2 kg was 75% and 74%, respectively. Conclusions: These findings indicate that aging is associated with reduced plantarflexion strength of the toes. The paper grip test may be a useful screening tool to detect toe weakness in the clinical setting.

We sought to determine the prevalence, clinical features, and laboratory characteristics of polyneuropathies in Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia (WM), a malignant bone marrow disorder with lymphocytes that produce monoclonal IgM.We prospectively studied 119 patients with WM and 58 controls. Medical history was taken, and neurological examinations, electrodiagnostic tests, and serum studies were performed by different examiners who were blinded to results except the diagnosis of WM.Polyneuropathy symptoms, including discomfort and sensory loss in the legs, occurred more frequently (p0.001) in patients with WM (47%) than in controls (9%). Patients with WM had 35% lower quantitative vibration scores, and more frequent pin loss (3.4 times) and gait disorders (5.5 times) than controls (all p0.001). Patients with IgM binding to sulphatide (5% of WM) had sensory axon loss; those with IgM binding to myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG) (4% of WM) had sensorimotor axon loss and demyelination. Patients with WM with IgM binding to sulphatide (p0.005) or MAG (p0.001) had more severe sensory axon loss than other patients with WM. Demyelination occurred in 4% of patients with WM with no IgM binding to MAG. Age related reductions in vibration sense and sural SNAP amplitudes were similar ( approximately 30%) in WM and controls.Peripheral nerve symptoms and signs occur more frequently in patients with WM than controls, involve sensory modalities, and are often associated with gait disorders. IgM binding to MAG or sulphatide is associated with a further increase in the frequency and severity of peripheral nerve involvement. Age related changes, similar to those in controls, add to the degree of reduced nerve function in patients with WM.

Plantar intrinsic foot muscles provide structure to the foot during walking and thus regulate mechanical foot sole stresses. When paralyzed, for instance in leprosy patients with neuropathy of the distal part of the tibial nerve, there is a high prevalence of plantar ulceration and deformities, especially when muscle weakness goes together with loss of foot sole sensibility. These patients should get immediate care involving education, special footwear and reconstructive surgery before further foot impairment and deformity becomes manifest. Thus far, in leprosy patients little attention is paid to screening of plantar intrinsic muscles activity. This can be done with a new simple and non-invasive method, the Paper Grip Test (PGT). There are two variants for detecting intrinsic muscle weakness of the foot, PGT1 for the great toe and PGT2 for the combined lesser toes. In this study, 517 leprosy patients and 170 healthy volunteers were investigated with the PGT. Sensibility of the foot sole was tested by means of a 10 gram monofilament. Specificity to the PGT1 is found to be about 95.3% which is considered good for physical diagnostic tests. PGT2 is less specific than PGT1. Individual muscle power and understanding of the patient seems to influence the outcome of the test to a certain extent. Sensitivity can only be calculated when the diagnosis is confirmed by electromyography. Especially patients with anesthetic feet, females, older patients and patients with PN-, BB- or LL-types of leprosy appeared to have a higher prevalence of intrinsic foot muscle weakness. All results were analyzed by means of the bivariate Pearson correlation-analysis and proved to be statistically significant (p =0.05). It is concluded that the PGT1, more than the PGT2, is a useful screening test on the function of plantar intrinsic foot muscles in leprosy patients in hospitals and during fieldwork in developing countries.