Prediction of motor recovery after ischemic stroke: Clinical and diffusion tensor imaging study.

Background: The severity of stroke-induced disruption to the corticospinal tract (CST) would be predictable to affect motor outcome. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a noninvasive technique that can be applied to assess the structural integrity of the CST.

Aim Of The Work: To assess the value of DTI in patients early presenting with acute ischemic stroke as a prognostic modality to predict the clinical outcome PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-four patients with acute ischemic stroke underwent clinical assessment using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), Medical Research Council (MRC) score, Morticity Index (MI), and DTI to detect the degree of reduction of fractional anisotropy (FA), and pattern of CST at baseline and after 6 months follow up.