Article

The main function of the corticospinal tract (CST) is control of the distal
musculature used for fine movements, in contrast, the corticoreticular pathway
(CRP) innervates the proximal and axial musculature. We report on a patient with
an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) who showed recovery of an injured CST and an
injured CRP by diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). The patient, a 38-year-old
man, presented with severe paralysis of the right upper and lower extremities due
to a spontaneous ICH in the left corona radiata and basal ganglia. When he
started rehabilitation at 3 weeks after onset, he showed more severe weakness in
the proximal joints (shoulder and hip joints) than distal joints (hand and ankle
joints). This proximal weakness improved rapidly in parallel with distal weakness
over 3 weeks of rehabilitation. DTT performed at 3 and 6 weeks post-ICH revealed
that a thin left CST observed at 3 weeks thickened at 6 weeks, and that a
discontinuation of the left CRP at the midbrain level at 3 weeks was restored at
6 weeks. In addition, the track volumes of the left CST and CRP increased from
221 and 244 at 3 weeks to 725 and 625 at 6 weeks. In conclusion, we demonstrated
the recovery of an injured CST and an injured CRP in a patient with ICH.

Langue : ANGLAIS