Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

CAMPTOCORMIA: A BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS

1996; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 75; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00002060-199607000-00014

1537-7385

Hussein M. Abdulhadi, D. Casey Kerrigan,

Neurogenetic and Muscular Disorders Research

Although camptocormia, a conversion disorder associated with the disability of severely forward-bent posture, has been reported in the literature, to date there has been no report of a detailed kinematic or biomechanical analysis of this disability. Presented is a 47-yr-old male engineer with severely forward-bent posture during walking. One year ago, after playing tennis, he developed low back pain followed by a sensation that to walk comfortably he had to assume a forward-bent posture. Two months later, although the low back pain had resolved, he maintained the same unusual walking pattern. Although he could walk a few steps in the upright position, he would spontaneously revert to the forward-bent posture. Physical examination was normal except for bilateral 10° hip flexion contractures. Gait laboratory analysis, including kinematics, kinetics, and dynamic electromyography, revealed exaggerated anterior pelvic tilt during terminal stance when he walked in an upright posture. In the forward-bent posture, however, this anterior pelvic tilt was significantly less. It is possible that his unusual forward-bent posture was a compensatory mechanism to reduce excessive pelvic tilt. Although this rare disability has been previously attributed to a conversion disorder, there may be, in some instances, a biomechanical component.