title: Spatial attention can transfer to the contralateral hemisphere in neonatal stroke patients: a case report following hemispherectomy.
abstract: Patients suffer hemispatial neglect after stroke. However, whether the function of spatial attention is reorganized to the contralateral brain remains poorly understood. Here we present a case report of neonatal stroke to demonstrate the reorganization of spatial attention in the contralateral hemisphere using a series of tests including star cancellation task, line bisection test, the bells test, letter cancellation test, and drawing tests. The patient underwent right hemispherectomy for treatment of refractory epilepsy and did not have hemispatial neglect after surgery, supporting transfer of function prior to the operation. After analyzing the literature in this field, we proposed that the function of spatial attention may transfer to the contralateral side in childhood. Thus, this study sheds new light on the preserved function of spatial attention in neonatal stroke patients even when hemispherectomy is performed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhanpeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Haiyang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Hongquan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Lichao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jiqing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D038421:Hemispherectomy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed