Location and size of infarct on functional outcome of noncardioembolic ischemic stroke.
OBJECTIVE
Studies regarding the effects of location and size of infarct on the functional outcome after stroke have yielded inconsistent results. This study aimed to investigate the relationships of neuroimage findings and longitudinal Barthel index (BI) scores in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke.


METHODS
The neuroimage findings of enrolled subjects were grouped by anatomical location. The size of infarct was determined by the largest diameter of the lesion. Patients were followed up prospectively at onset, 2 weeks, 1, 2, 4, and 6 months after stroke. Linear mixed model was employed for the repeated measurement analysis of BI at these six time points in each patient.


RESULTS
A total of 111 patients were enrolled. The BI increased rapidly during the first two months, and reached plateau after four months. The location and size of the lesion had significant effects on serial measurements of BI. After adjustment for age, sex, treatment mode, and baseline BI score, the posterior cerebral artery infarct group showed the largest improvement in BI. There was a trend that the smaller the lesion size, the more favourable the functional outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
Both location and size of lesion in noncardioembolic stroke were significant prognostic factors for functional outcome.
Pan
Shin-Liang
SL
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wu
Shwu-Chong
SC
Wu
Tzy-Haw
TH
Lee
Ti-Kai
TK
Chen
Tony Hsiu-Hsi
TH
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed