Neurophysiologie clinique = Clinical neurophysiology
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Clinical Trial
Impaired corticolingual pathways in patients with or without dysarthria after acute monohemispheric stroke.
The occurrence of dysarthria is not infrequent in stroke but little is known about its pathophysiology. The aims of the present study were to assess the central motor innervation of the tongue in normal adults using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and to compare this with that seen in stroke patients with or without dysarthria. The study included 46 patients with acute monohemispheric stroke due to occlusion of the territory of the middle cerebral artery as documented by CT brain scan (26 patients with dysarthria and 20 patients without dysarthria). ⋯ There were no significant associations between neurophysiological parameters and side of infarction. We conclude that interruption of the corticolingual pathways is frequent in stroke patients with or without dysarthria. The ability of unaffected hemisphere to evoke responses in the side contralateral to the lesion may relate to the absence or presence of dysarthria.