ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on non-fluent aphasia in patients after stroke.Methods Forty stroke patients displaying non-fluent aphasia were randomly assigned to an rTMS group and a control group using a random number table.Both groups were treated with conventional language therapy,while the rTMS group was additionally given 0.5 Hz rTMS over the Broca's homologues of the unaffected hemisphere 5 days a week for 3 weeks.The patients were stimulated at 90％ of the motor threshold (MT),with 16 second trains and intervals of 3 seconds 48 times (384 pulses) in a session.Before and after the 3 weeks of treatment,the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) and the Communicative Abilities in Daily Living (CADL) test were conducted in both groups to evaluate their language function and communication ability.Results Only spontaneous speech improved significantly (P＜0.05) in the control group after 3 weeks of treatment.In the rTMS group,the spontaneous speech,auditory comprehension,repetition,naming and aphasia quotient (AQ) had all improved significantly (P＜0.05).Moreover,after the treatment,the average score of the auditory comprehension (153.90± 31.79),repetition (82.65± 15.14),naming(81.28±22.12) and AQ (63.66± 13.64) of the rTMS group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P＜0.05).Conclusion rTMS applied to the Broca's homologues of the unaffected hemisphere can significantly improve language function in those exhibiting non-fluent aphasia after stroke.
ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the therapeutic effects of oral placement therapy (OPT) on managing sialorrhea after stroke.Methods A total of 37 stroke inpatients with sialorrhea were enrolled from January 2011 to September 2013 in the authors' department for the study and divided into 2 group on the basis of the time of enrollment.The control group (n =18) received 30min of routine treatment (including such neuromuscular facilitation techniques as Bobath and Rood techniques,motor relearning program,neuromuscular electrical stimulation and ice stimulation),twice daily,and the treatment group (n =19) received 15 min of routine treatment plus 15 min of OPT,twice daily.Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment was used to evaluate the sialorrhea severity and clinical efficacy before and 1,2 and 4 weeks after initiation of treatment.Results Sialorrhea symptom was significantly improved in treatment group after 1 week (P ＜ 0.05),while no significant improvement was observed in control group (P ＞ 0.05).After 2 and 4 weeks of treatments,significant improvements of sialorrhea were noted in both groups.After 1,2 and 4weeks of treatment,the total effective rate were 63.16％,94.74％ and 94.74％,respectively,in the treatment group,versus 5.88％,61.11％ and 61.11％,respectively,in the control group.The total effective rate of the treatment group were significantly higher in the above three time-points than the control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Oral placement therapy can improve sialorrhea symptom after stroke more effectively than routine treatment.