Neuroimaging Correlates of Post-Stroke Aphasia Rehabilitation in a Pilot Randomized Trial of Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy.

BACKGROUND Recovery from post-stroke aphasia is a long and complex process with an uncertain outcome. Various interventions have been proposed to augment the recovery, including constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT). CIAT has been applied to patients suffering from post-stroke aphasia in several unblinded studies to show mild-to-moderate linguistic gains.

Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy for Treatment of Chronic Post-Stroke Aphasia: A Randomized, Blinded, Controlled Pilot Trial.

Background: To provide a preliminary estimate of efficacy of constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT) when compared to no-intervention in patients with chronic (>1 year) post-stroke aphasia in order to plan an appropriately powered randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Material And Methods: We conducted a pilot single-blinded RCT. 24 patients were randomized: 14 to CIAT and 10 to no-intervention.