title: Poststroke fatigue is associated with caudate infarcts.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The caudate nucleus may be involved in the pathogenesis of the fatigue observed in neurological disorders. However, the significance of caudate lesions in poststroke fatigue (PSF) is unknown. This study examined the association between caudate infarcts and PSF.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five hundred Chinese patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to the acute stroke unit of a university-affiliated regional hospital in Hong Kong participated in the study. All participants were assessed for PSF with the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) three months after their index stroke. PSF was defined as a mean FSS score of 4.0 or more. Physical functioning and depressive symptoms were measured by the Barthel Index (BI) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and twenty-five (25.0%) of the patients had PSF. Compared to the non-fatigue group, the PSF patients were more likely to be women and had hyperlipidemia, lower BI and higher GDS scores. Caudate (8.0% versus 1.3%, p=0.001) and putamen (19.2% versus 12.0%, p=0.043) acute infarcts were more common in the PSF group, whereas pons infarcts (13.6% versus 22.2%, p=0.038) were less common. Acute caudate infarcts remained an independent predictor of PSF in the multivariate analysis, with an odds ratio of 6.4.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that patients with PSF are more likely to have caudate infarcts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. tangwk@cuhk.edu.hk
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Winnie C W
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abrigo
authors.forename: V C T
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Mok
authors.forename: Gabor S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ungvari
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002421:Caudate Nucleus; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed