Lee Won Min, Kyeong Sunghyon, Park Eun Young, Yang Hee Seung, Kang Hyunkoo, Kim Dae Hyun
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Severance Biomedical Science Institute, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Neuroreport. 2018 Jan 3;29(1):30-35. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0000000000000929.
The role of the right hemisphere in recovery of language function after left hemisphere stroke remains unclear. This prospective study aimed to determine the relationship between bilateral hemispheric changes and severity of aphasia in patients with chronic left hemisphere stroke. Twenty-three patients with left hemisphere stroke with aphasia and 10 healthy control patients underwent high-resolution T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging. Patients with aphasia were assessed using the Korean version of the Western Aphasia Battery, and severity of aphasia was quantified in terms of aphasia quotient; patients were classified into two groups - the mild-to-moderate and severe groups - on the basis of severity of aphasia. Brain volume and fractional anisotropy in language-associated areas of the brain were determined by voxel-based morphometry analysis. Volume of white matter in the left hemisphere and fractional anisotropy of the bilateral pars opercularis, pars triangularis, angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and superior longitudinal fasciculus were significantly lower in the severe aphasia group than in the control group. The findings of this study demonstrate the importance of right hemispheric integrity for recovery of language function in patients with chronic poststroke aphasia.
左半球中风后右半球在语言功能恢复中的作用仍不明确。这项前瞻性研究旨在确定慢性左半球中风患者双侧半球变化与失语严重程度之间的关系。23例左半球中风伴失语患者和10例健康对照者接受了高分辨率T1加权成像和弥散张量成像。使用韩语版西方失语成套测验对失语患者进行评估，并根据失语商对失语严重程度进行量化；根据失语严重程度将患者分为两组——轻度至中度组和重度组。通过基于体素的形态学分析确定大脑语言相关区域的脑容量和分数各向异性。重度失语组左半球白质体积以及双侧岛盖部、三角部、角回、缘上回和上纵束的分数各向异性显著低于对照组。本研究结果表明，右半球完整性对慢性中风后失语患者语言功能恢复具有重要意义。
