Brain & NeuroRehabilitation最新文献

Mental practice (MP), the cognitive rehearsal of physical activities without overt movements, has recently emerged as a promising rehabilitation method for patients with stroke. This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis critically evaluating the existing evidence to offer a comprehensive estimate of the overall effect of MP on motor function in stroke patients. A systematic search of 3 international databases (PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library) was conducted for randomized controlled trials. We finally selected 31 randomized clinical trials and conducted meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of MP on motor recovery of upper extremity, upper extremity function, activities of daily living, and gait velocity in stroke patients. The results of the systematic reviews showed that MP combined with conventional therapy has a positive impact on improving upper extremity motor function, with a moderate quality of evidence. However, the beneficial effect of MP on gait velocity was not demonstrated. It is recommended to treat with MP in addition to conventional rehabilitation therapy to improve the motor outcome of stroke depending on the patient's condition (Recommendation level: Conditional Recommend Evidence certainty: Moderate).

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease that has motor dysfunction, predominantly chorea, cognitive impairment, and psychiatric disturbances as symptoms. Treatment is directed to reduce the severity of symptoms, although there are few studies and no clinical guidelines for rehabilitation in HD. Therefore, this review aimed to establish an effective rehabilitation approach for HD according to the stage of the disease. In the early stage of HD, the motor symptoms are mild, and psychological symptoms occur. Treatment in this period should focus on aerobic and resistance exercises, task-specific training, secondary prevention education, cognitive training, and psychological management. In the middle stage of HD, the motor symptoms are more severe. Task-specific rehabilitation approaches, education for the patient and caregiver, functional respiratory exercises, activities of daily living training, multidisciplinary and multimodal daycare rehabilitation are helpful to patients in this stage. At the late stage of HD, most patients need complete support for activity of daily living. Mobility and balance evaluation and prevention strategies should be focused on for safety, and respiratory exercises and physical exercise to prevent complications in patients with severely impaired mobility should be considered based on the patient's condition. Programmed rehabilitation management based on the stage of the disease is effective for patients with HD.

Patients with brainstem stroke can present with various oculomotor disorders, including ptosis. Neurogenic ptosis, which results from total or partial dysfunction of the third cranial nerve and/or the Müller muscle, can significantly restrict activities of daily living and participation in rehabilitation. Therefore, surgical intervention is an effective therapeutic strategy. However, owing to complications associated with incomplete eyelid closure, such as exposure keratitis and corneal injury, patients with neurogenic ptosis should first be observed, as natural recovery without surgery can be expected despite a poor prognosis. We reported the case of a 66-year-old woman with bilateral Claude syndrome who presented with severe bilateral ptosis, quadriparesis, and cognitive impairment after a bilateral midbrain infarction. After 3 months of intensive rehabilitation using soft elastic eyelid bands, her ptosis improved without the need for eyelid bands and visual field significantly increased, with improved functional level to the point of walking independently without assistance. This report demonstrates the potential advantages of the simple yet effective nonsurgical intervention of a soft elastic eyelid band for ptosis to restore significant functional gains in patients with severe bilateral ptosis after acute stroke.

We present a case of cervical myelopathy caused by epidural hematoma formation due to chronic cerebrospinal fluid overdrainage. A 55-year-old man who underwent ventriculoperitoneal (V-P) shunt surgery for normal pressure hydrocephalus presented with progressive weakness of both the upper and lower extremities. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed compressive myelopathy at the cervicomedullary junction at the C1-C2 level caused by epidural hematoma formation due to intracranial hypotension (IH) caused by a complication of V-P shunt. He underwent decompressive laminectomy and hematoma removal at C1-C2 and replacement of the V-P shunt valve. Follow-up cervical spine MRI showed an improved state of severe central spinal stenosis at the C1-C2 level and an improved state of compression-related cord signal intensity change in the spinal cord. After surgical intervention and intensive rehabilitation, the patient showed clinical improvement. If cervical myelopathy is suspected in patients with a shunt, cord compression due to venous engorgement or hematoma caused by over-shunting and IH should be considered.

Understanding how outpatient physiotherapy impacts on specific motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) is important for multidisciplinary care, but these points have not been clarified. We investigated the impact of outpatient physiotherapy on individual motor symptoms in PD patients. Fifty-five PD patients participated in the prospective cohort study, which examined the changes in motor symptoms after 90 min of outpatient physiotherapy program (1×/week for 10 weeks) and at 3 months follow-up. Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) motor score and tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and axial scores were assessed and compared pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at follow-up. Significant level was set at 0.05. Their MDS-UPDRS motor score and axial score significantly decreased post-intervention and at the follow-up. In the analysis differentiating effects based on the severity of motor symptoms according to the MDS-UPDRS motor score, only the moderate-severe group showed significant decreases in their MDS-UPDRS motor score, bradykinesia, and axial scores post-intervention, as well as in their MDS-UPDRS motor score, rigidity, bradykinesia, and axial scores at the follow-up. These findings suggest the outpatient physiotherapy might provide benefits, particularly in managing axial symptoms and bradykinesia, for community dwelling PD patients with moderate-severe motor symptoms within a multidisciplinary care framework.

Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by progressive motor symptoms, such as dystonia and spasticity. Classical PKAN is the most common subtype of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA). Currently, there is no established treatment for PKAN. However, baclofen and botulinum toxin have been reported to improve motor symptoms and ease care in these patients. Additionally, Deferiprone is a well-tolerated iron chelator that has been shown to be effective in reducing brain iron accumulation. In this case report, we present the case of a seven-year-old boy who presented to our ward with spastic gait and extrapyramidal signs. Brain magnetic resonance imaging was performed, which showed features of neurodegeneration secondary to brain iron accumulation with a specific appearance of the eye-of-the-tiger sign. Genetic testing was positive for a homozygous mutation in PANK2, and the diagnosis of early-stage classical PKAN was made. This case report highlights the potent efficacy of baclofen, botulinum toxin, and deferiprone in slowing down the disease progression at an early stage and improving the severity of symptoms.

Crossed aphasia (CA) is a type of aphasia caused by cerebral hemispheric lesions on the same side of the dominant hand. The prevalence of CA is extremely rare. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report in Korea to conduct 6 years of long-term speech therapy in a case of a patient with CA. The patient was a 57-year-old right-handed man with aphasia caused by extensive acute infarction in the right middle cerebral artery territory. He presented with global aphasia, right-left disorientation, and agraphia. Language function recovered in the first 6 months and then plateaued.

This meta-analysis aimed to compare the effects of robot-assisted training (RAT) with those of conventional therapy (CT), considering the potential sources of heterogeneity in the previous studies. We searched three international electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library) to identify relevant studies. Risk of bias assessment was performed using the Cochrane's Risk of Bias 1.0 tool. The certainty of the evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations method. The meta-analyses for each outcome of the respective domains were performed using 24 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on robot-assisted arm training (RAAT) for arm function, 7 RCTs on RAAT for activities of daily living (ADL), 12 RCTs on robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) for balance, 6 RCTs on RAGT for walking, and 7 RCTs on RAGT for ADL. The random-effects model for the meta-analysis revealed that RAAT has significant superiority over CT in improving arm function, and ADL. We also showed that RAGT has significant superiority over CT in improving balance. Our study provides high-level evidence for the superiority of RAT over CT in terms of functional recovery after stroke. Therefore, physicians should consider RAT as a therapeutic option for facilitating functional recovery after stroke.

Cerebral air embolism (CAE) occurs in various clinical situations such as surgery, angiography, and hemodialysis; most are iatrogenic. Here we report the case of a 57-year-old man who developed CAE immediately after air-powder abrasive treatment, which is commonly used in dentistry. The patient underwent air-powder abrasive treatment for peri-implantitis, and immediately after the treatment, cardiac arrest occurred and cardio- pulmonary resuscitation was performed. After resuscitation, brain computed tomography performed in the emergency room showed scattered dark density presumed to be air. The day after admission, the patient showed right hemiplegia and a multifocal cerebral infarction was observed on brain magnetic resonance imaging. Therefore, CAE was strongly suspected. After hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT), which started 4 days after the incident, the patient regained consciousness and showed improvement in cognitive impairment, and only grade 4 muscle weakness was observed in the right lower extremity on the manual muscle test. This case highlights the importance of considering CAE as a possible cause of neurological symptoms occurring during clinical procedures involving air, and adds to the accumulation of evidence of therapeutic effects of delayed HBOT.

Although a variety of cognitive training has been performed, its optimally personalized delivery is still unknown. This study established the mental workload classification model using a convolutional neural network based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy-derived data. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) while thirty individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) performed spatial working memory testing was found to be a considerable indicator to classify 3 levels of mental workload with an accuracy of over 86%. In the next step, forty subjects with MCI were randomly allocated into the experimental group (EG) that received cognitive training with mental workload-based difficulty adjustment or the control group (CG) that received conventional cognitive training. To compare both groups, the Trail Making Test Part B (TMT-B) and hemodynamic responses in the DLPFC during the TMT-B were measured. After the 16 training sessions, the EG subjects achieved a greater improvement in the TMT-B than the CG subjects (p < 0.05). Also, the EG subject showed a significantly lower DLPFC activity during the TMT-B than the CG subject (p < 0.05). In sum, the EG subjects better performed executive function with lower energy from the DLPFC. These findings imply that the importance of mental workload monitoring to provide personalized cognitive training.