ABSTRACT
@#Objective To investigate the relationship between disrupted corticospinal tract (CST) and motor recovery after stroke by using diffusion tensor tracking (DTT). Methods From March, 2012 to June, 2013, 15 chronic stroke patients with left subcortical lesions and 15 age- and sex- matched healthy subjects were performed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) examination. The CST was tracked by DTT technique, and the damaged values of the CST caused by the stroke lesions were quantified using a CST template generated from healthy controls. Furthermore, the correlations of the damaged values of the CST with Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) were performed. Results The range of the damaged values of CST in stroke patients was 0.00% to 29.6%. There were very strong negative correlation between the damaged values of the CST and FMA scores (the wrist, r = -0.660; hand, r = -0.813; wrist plus hand, r = -0.795, respectively, P < 0.01). It also showed strong negative correlation between the damaged values of the CST and FMA scores (upper limb, r = -0.614; upper limb plus lower limb, r = -0.563, respectively, P < 0.05). Whereas, there was no correlation between the damaged values of the CST and FMA scores of lower limb (r = -0.270, P = 0.331). In addition, the lesion volumes of stroke and FMA scores were not significantly correlated (P > 0.05). Conclusion The severity of motor deficit after stroke was closely related to the overlap of lesions with CST. The damaged values of the CST based on DTT may be used as a potential biomarker to assess motor impairments of upper limbs, especially hand and wrist in stroke patients.
ABSTRACT
Objective To assess any differences in brain activation during active,passive and imaginary movement of the hands using blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),and to provide references for the cortical reorganization in patients with brain injuries.Methods Twenty healthy,righthanded,adult volunteers were studied,fMRI was performed during active,passive and imaginary fist clutching.Whole brain analysis and group analysis were applied to get the voxels,the volume of activation,the peak t-score and its coordinates.Results Active and passive movement both produced significant activation in the contralateral sensorimotor cortex,the contralateral supplementary motor area and the ipsilateral cerebellum.The sensorimotor cortex was the most frequently and most strongly activated brain area.Imaginary movement produced significant bilateral activation in the supplementary motor area.Conclusions Active and passive movement induce similar brain activation patterns.This indicates that passive might replace active movement when observing activation of the brain's cortex during the rehabilitation of patients with hemiplegia.