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A lthough cerebellar ataxic gait is a common and disabling symptom in many neurological diseases, systematic studies of the features of cerebellar gait are rare and the results contradictory. 1, 2 Clinical descriptions of cerebellar gait usually include a widened base, unsteadiness and irregularity of steps, and lateral veering. 3 The patient may compensate for these abnormalities by shortening the steps and shuffling. 3 In contrast with this clinical description, a quantitative study failed to show one of the key features, namely the widened base. 1 The aim of our study was to analyse the typical features of cerebellar gait in order to quantify the variables that are most consistently disturbed. Therefore we focused especially on balance related features of gait during normal locomotion and after provoking ataxia in a routine clinical test (tandem gait paradigm).
METHODS
Twelve patients with cerebellar disease (CD) of various causes with a clear cut cerebellar syndrome were included in the study (mean age 47.9 years). All patients had gait disturbance of variable extent, limb ataxia, and intention tremor on neurological examination. Disease severity was mild to moderate, as no patient was wheelchair bound or used a rollator frame. Twelve age matched healthy subjects (mean age 47.3 years) served as controls. Patients and healthy subjects were excluded if either the history or the examination showed a hindrance or disease that interfered with an unrestrained gait, other than of cerebellar origin (for the patients). All subjects gave their informed consent to participate in the study, which was approved by the local ethics committee.
Gait analysis was carried out for two different tasks: (a ) normal locomotion; (b ) tandem gait. The detailed method used to calculate the various gait variables, during both normal locomotion and tandem gait, has been described elsewhere. 4 The natural walking speed, during normal locomotion and tandem gait, of each subject was measured during overground locomotion and was then preselected on the treadmill. During tandem gait, the subjects were instructed to place one foot in front of the other on a line of red tape that was attached to the lamella layers of the treadmill. Before recording, the subjects were given five minutes to familiarise themselves with treadmill locomotion. Gait was recorded with a...