Article

Recent neuroimaging studies on poststroke aphasia revealed
maladaptive cortical changes in both hemispheres, yet their functional
contribution in language recovery remains elusive.
The aim of this study was to
evaluate the long-term efficacy of dual-hemisphere repetitive transcranial
magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on poststroke aphasia.
METHODS: Thirty patients with
subacute poststroke nonfluent aphasia were randomly allocated to receive real or
sham rTMS. Each patient received 1000 rTMS pulses (1 Hz at 110% of resting motor
threshold [rMT] over the right unaffected Broca's area and 1000 pulses (20 Hz at
80% rMT) over the left affected Broca's area for 10 consecutive days followed by
speech/language training. The language section of the Hemispheric Stroke Scale
(HSS), the Stroke Aphasic Depression Questionnaire-Hospital Version (SADQ-H), and
the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) were measured before,
immediately after the 10 sessions, and 1 and 2 months after the last session.
RESULTS: At baseline, there were no significant differences between groups in
demographic and clinical rating scales. However, there was a significantly
greater improvement in the HSS language score as well as in the SADQ-H after real
rTMS compared with sham rTMS, which remained significant 2 months after the end
of the treatment sessions. CONCLUSION: This is the first clinical study of
dual-hemisphere rTMS in poststroke aphasia. Combining dual-hemisphere rTMS with
language training might be a feasible treatment for nonfluent aphasia; further
multicenter studies are needed to confirm this result.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS