title: Recovery of an injured fornix in a stroke patient.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Knowledge about recovery of an injured fornix following brain injury is limited. We describe here a patient who showed recovery of an injured fornix following stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 57-year-old female patient underwent coiling for a ruptured anterior communicating cerebral artery aneurysm, and conservative management for subarachnoid and intraventricular haemorrhage. The patient showed severe cognitive impairment 6 weeks after onset. However, her cognition showed continuous improvement with time; based on the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Memory Assessment Scale, her cognition was within the normal range 7 months after onset.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings from diffusion tensor tractography at 6 weeks and 7 months showed discontinuations in both columns of the fornix. The proximal portion of both crus also showed discontinuation on diffusion tensor tractography at 6 weeks and 7 months; however, on 7-month diffusion tensor tractography, the end of the fornical body was shown to be connected to the splenium of the corpus callosum and then branched to the right medial temporal lobe and right thalamus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The unusual neural connection between the injured fornix and the thalamus appears to be a recovery phenomenon, which allows the injured fornix and the medial temporal lobe to obtain cholinergic innervation from cholinergic nuclei in the brainstem rather than from cholinergic nuclei in the basal forebrain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daemyungdong, Namku, Taegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Seok
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.forename: Sung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jang
mesh_terms: D017542:Aneurysm, Ruptured / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D005260:Female; D020712:Fornix, Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology