Abstract
Objective
To determine to what extent repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined
with speech and language therapy improves functional communication and basic linguistic
skills of individuals with subacute aphasia.
Design
Randomized, blinded, and sham-controlled study.
Setting
Neurologic rehabilitation hospital.
Participants
Participants (N=30) with subacute aphasia after stroke.
Interventions
During a 2-week treatment period, half of the participants received 10 sessions of
20-minute inhibitory 1-Hz rTMS over the right inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann area
45), and the other half received sham stimulation. Directly thereafter, all the participants
underwent 45 minutes of speech and language therapy.
Main Outcome Measures
Aachen Aphasia Test, Amsterdam-Nijmegen Everyday Language Test (ANELT), a naming screening,
and subscales of the FIM, all assessed the day before and the day after treatment
period.
Results
The participants who received real rTMS significantly improved with respect to all
10 measures of basic linguistic skills and functional communication, whereas sham-treated
participants significantly improved in only 6 of 10 measures (paired t tests, P<.05). There was a significant difference in the gains made by the 2 groups on 5 of
10 measures including functional communication (ANELT) (repeated-measures analysis
of variance, P≤.05).
Conclusions
For the first time, this study has demonstrated that basic linguistic skills as well
as functional communication are bolstered by combining rTMS and behavioral language
therapy in patients with subacute aphasia.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AAT (Aachen Aphasia Test), ANELT (Amsterdam-Nijmegen Everyday Language Test), ANOVA (analysis of variance), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), SLT (speech and language therapy), rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 16, 2015
Footnotes
Supported in part by the Walter and Marga Boll Foundation and the Wolf-Dieter Heiss-Foundation.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
