RESUMO
Background: Rehabilitation is still the only treatment available to improve functional status after the acute phase of stroke. Most clinical guidelines highlight the need to design rehabilitation treatments considering starting time, intensity, and frequency, according to the tolerance of the patient. However, there are no homogeneous protocols and the biological effects are under investigation. Objective: To investigate the impact of rehabilitation intensity (hours) after stroke on functional improvement and serum angiogenin (ANG) in a 6-month follow-up study. Methods: A prospective, observational, longitudinal, and multicenter study with three cohorts: strokes in intensive rehabilitation therapy (IRT, minimum 15 h/week) vs. conventional therapy (NO-IRT, <15 h/week), and controls subjects (without known neurological, malignant, or inflammatory diseases). A total of seven centers participated, with functional evaluations and blood sampling during follow-up. The final cohort includes 62 strokes and 43 controls with demographic, clinical, blood samples, and exhaustive functional monitoring. Results: The median (IQR) number of weekly hours of therapy was different: IRT 15 (15-16) vs. NO-IRT 7.5 (5-9), p < 0.01, with progressive and significant improvements in both groups. However, IRT patients showed earlier improvements (within 1 month) on several scales (CAHAI, FMA, and FAC; p < 0.001) and the earliest community ambulation achievements (0.89 m/s at 3 months). There was a significant difference in ANG temporal profile between the IRT and NO-IRT groups (p < 0.01). Additionally, ANG was elevated at 1 month only in the IRT group (p < 0.05) whereas it decreased in the NO-IRT group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest an association of rehabilitation intensity with early functional improvements, and connect the rehabilitation process with blood biomarkers.
RESUMO
Informamos sobre un caso de trastorno obsesivo compulsivo (TOC), con tics motores y verbales, conducta acumuladora y síndrome del acento extranjero (dialecto regional) sin afasia, en un nativo español diestro que presentó una hemorragia en ganglios basales izquierdos. Su TOC y conducta acumuladora, que precedieron a la hemorragia cerebral, se diagnosticaron a raíz de un ingreso hospitalario, ya que previamente no había estado en contacto con ningún servicio psiquiátrico. Una lesión limitada al núcleo estriado izquierdo le provocó una variante regional del síndrome del acento extranjero (SAE). El paciente respondió adecuadamente al tratamiento. En nuestro conocimiento, éste es el primer caso de SAE en un hispanoparlante y también en un individuo que presentaba previamente TOC, tics y conducta acumuladora. Revisamos la literatura científica de estos trastornos (AU)
We report a case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), with motor and vocal tics, hoarding behaviour and foreign accent syndrome (FAS) (regional dialect) without aphasia in a right handed native Spaniard who presented with a left basal ganglia haemorrhage. His OCD and hoarding behaviour, which predated the brain haemorrhage, were diagnosed as a result of his admission to hospital as he had never been in contact with psychiatric services. Limited damage to the left striatum caused a regional variant of foreign accent syndrome. The patient responded well to treatment. To our knowledge this is the first case of a regional dialect of FAS in a Spanish speaker and also in a subject that presented OCD, tics and hoarding behaviour. We review the literature of these disorders (AU)
