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Recovery of aphasia and change of injured arcuate fasciculus in the dominant hemisphere in stroke patients.

OBJECTIVES
We investigated the relation between recovery of aphasia and change of injured fasciculus (AF) in the dominant hemisphere using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) in stroke patients with aphasia.


METHODS
Sixteen consecutive right-handed stroke patients with aphasia with injury of the left AF were recruited for this study. The Western Aphasia Battery for assessment of aphasia and DTTs of the AF were used within 30 days of stroke onset and again three months after. DTTs of both AFs were reconstructed, and fractional anisotropy (FA) and voxel number of the AF were measured.


RESULTS
A moderate positive correlation was observed between aphasia quotient (AQ) and voxel number of the left AF (r = 0.626, p < 0.01). However, no correlation was observed between AQ and FA of the left AF, and voxel number and FA of the right AF. In addition, the language quotient (LQ) of WAB was not correlated with FA and voxel number of the both AFs.


CONCLUSIONS
We found a relation between recovery of aphasia from early to chronic stage of stroke and recovery of the injured AF in the dominant hemisphere irrespective of change of the AF in the non-dominant hemisphere. Our results suggest that facilitation of the injured AF in the dominant hemisphere could be an important strategy in neuro-rehabilitation for stroke patients with aphasia.