Rehabilitation Outcomes of Patients With Severe Disability Poststroke.

Objective: To characterize rehabilitation outcomes of patients with severe poststroke motor impairment (MI) and develop a predictive model for treatment failure.

Design: Retrospective cohort study. Correlates of treatment failure, defined as the persistence of severe MI after rehabilitation, were identified using logistic regression analysis.

Effect of subtypes of neglect on functional outcome in stroke patients.

Objective: Because of the loss of autonomy in daily-life activities, spatial neglect after stroke is one of the main causes of disability. According to the spatial domains, neglect can be divided into personal (body), peripersonal (reaching) and extrapersonal (far) space. We evaluated the effect of these subtypes of neglect on functional outcome of rehabilitation in stroke patients.

Italian adaptation of the functional outcome questionnaire - aphasia: initial psychometric evaluation.

Purpose: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of Functional Outcome Questionnaire - Aphasia.

Methods: Two hundred and five persons with stroke-related aphasia and right hemiparesis who received ongoing assistance from a family caregiver were assessed using the Functional Outcome Questionnaire - Aphasia, Aachener Aphasie Test, Token Test, Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Functional Assessment Measure (FAM), and Quality of Life Questionnaire for Aphasics (QLQA). The Functional Outcome Questionnaire - Aphasia was translated into the Italian language using a translation and back-translation method.

Efficacy of visual-scanning training and prism adaptation for neglect rehabilitation.

Unilateral spatial neglect consists of the inability of a patient to respond, orient, and attend to stimuli on the left side of a space following a right-hemisphere lesion. Many rehabilitation approaches have been proposed to reduce neglect. The aim of our study was to compare the effect of visual-scanning training (VST) and prismatic adaptation (PA) on patients with neglect following a right-hemisphere lesion.

Quality of life measurement and outcome in aphasia.

Background: Quality of life (QL) can be defined as the individual's perception of their own well-being. Aphasia is the most important potential consequence of stroke and has a profound effect on a patient's life, causing emotional distress, depression, and social isolation, due to loss of language functions.

Aims: To draw up a QL questionnaire for aphasics (QLQA) focusing particularly on difficulties in interpersonal relationships and on the loss of independence as a result of language disorders.

A case of atypical progressive supranuclear palsy.

Background: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neurodegenerative extrapyramidal syndrome. Studies have demonstrated that PSP can present clinically as an atypical dementing syndrome dominated by a progressive apraxia of speech (AOS) and aphasia.

Aim: We aimed to investigate the clinical presentation of PSP, using a comprehensive multidimensional evaluation, and the disease response to various pharmacological treatments.

Multiple system atrophy with early cognitive deficits: a case report.

We present the case of a patient with multiple system atrophy with predominant cerebellar ataxia (MSA-C) in the early stage of the disease, who was assessed using a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Many studies have found cognitive deficits in MSA patients assessed after 2-3 years, but not in the first stages of the disease. The aim of this paper is to stress the importance of a complete neuropsychological assessment, even at the initial stage of the disease, when instrumental examinations are not able to show cortical involvement and daily life activities have not been affected.