Association of Long-Term Treatment by Botulinum Neurotoxins and Occupational Therapy with Subjective Physical Status in Patients with Post-Stroke Hemiplegia.

The short-term effects of botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) treatment in stroke patients with upper limb extremity are well established. This study examined the association between the recovery of motor function of the upper extremity with subjective physical symptoms in outpatients receiving long-term BoNT-A and occupational therapy following stroke. We also investigated the expectations of patients who elected to continue treatment. Forty-seven patients (23 men and 24 women) aged 61 years received BoNT-A treatment more than 20 times. The subjective physical status was analyzed by using the visual analogue scale score through an eight-item questionnaire. Recovery of motor function in the upper extremity was detected by calculating the change (delta) in Fugl-Mayer Assessment (FMA), and ordinal logistic modeling analysis was used to determine the association between the delta-FMA score and the subjective level of agreement for each item. When the ordinal logistic modeling fit was statistically significant, results were interpreted as having logistic probability. The logistic curves discriminating one point (strongly disagree) from five points (strongly agree) were fit in a stepwise fashion. This study suggests that patients receiving long-term BoNT-A treatment and occupational therapy experienced an increased upper extremity mitigation and decreased insomnia after injection, regardless of the recovery of motor function.

Improvement of higher brain dysfunction after brain injury by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and intensive rehabilitation therapy: case report.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and intensive cognitive rehabilitation (CR) were administered to two patients with cognitive dysfunction following brain injury. The first case was a 67-year-old man who presented with memory dysfunction, attention dysfunction, and decreased insight following diffuse axonal injury. High-frequency rTMS (10 Hz, 2400 pulses/day) targeting the anterior cingulate using a navigation system and CR were administered for 12 days at 1 year from the onset of injury. The patient showed improved neuropsychological performance and activities of daily living. In addition, single photon emission computer tomography with Tc-ECD showed improved perfusion in the anterior cingulate gyrus. The second case was a 68-year-old man who presented with dysfunction of memory, attention, and executive function following a cerebral infarction in the middle cerebral artery region within the right hemisphere. This patient received 12 days (except for Sundays) of low-frequency rTMS (1 Hz, 1200 pulses/day) targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the left posterior parietal cortex and CR. Following this intervention, the patient's neuropsychological performance and activities of daily living improved. Furthermore, single photon emission computer tomography showed changes in perfusion in the rTMS target sites and areas surrounding the targets. We have shown the safety and efficacy of rTMS therapy using a navigation system combined with intensive CR on two patients with cognitive dysfunction following brain injury. In addition, we observed changes in the areas around the rTMS target sites in brain imaging data.