Writing and drawing tilts after right hemisphere stroke are signs of a wrong verticality representation.

Background: Many signs of spatial dysgraphia and drawing errors after right hemispheric stroke (RHS) have been attributed to spatial neglect or impaired sensory feedback. Counterclockwise (contralesional) tilts of graphomotor productions remained to be explained.

Objective: To test whether graphomotor tilts stem from a tilted representation of verticality transposed to the top/bottom axis of the sheet of paper, using data from the DOBRAS cohort.

Multifactorial interplay on language recovery following left-hemispheric stroke: A retrospective study.

Understanding the relative contribution of various factors influencing initial severity of aphasia and recovery after a stroke is essential for optimising neurorehabilitation programmes. We investigated how various significant sociodemographic, cognitive, clinical, stroke-related and rehabilitation-related factors modulate aphasia severity and language recovery following left-hemispheric stroke. Employing an innovative method, we conducted a retrospective analysis of 96 stroke participants to explore the combined impact of these factors.

Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy and the postpartum: a practical approach by the Italian GOAL Working Group.

Background: Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia represent global health issues, particularly during pregnancy and the postpartum. The present paper aims to summarize the appropriate management of these conditions in order to try to improve how clinicians perceive, diagnose and treat iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia.

Methods: An expert panel of Italian obstetricians of Lazio region was convened to evaluate the available literature on iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy and the post-partum in order to try to define a flow chart on the appropriate management of such conditions; aspects related to the patient blood management have also been investigated.

Improving orientation with respect to gravity enhances balance and gait recovery after stroke: DOBRAS cohort.

Background: Lateropulsion is a deficit in body orientation with respect to gravity, frequent after stroke. Although it is a primary factor affecting mobility, the impact of its attenuation on balance and gait recovery has never been investigated. Moreover, most studies on the lateropulsion time-course focus on severe forms suspected to have a poor recovery, which is not proven.

Clinimetric properties of relevant criteria for assessing writing and drawing orientation after right hemisphere stroke.

Background: Writing and drawing orientation is rarely assessed in clinical routine, although it might have a potential value in detecting impaired verticality perception after right hemispheric stroke (RHS). Assessment tools and criteria must be conceived and validated. We therefore explored the clinimetric properties of a set of quantitative writing and drawing orientation criteria, their ranges of normality, and their tilt prevalence in RHS individuals.

Latent disconnectome prediction of long-term cognitive-behavioural symptoms in stroke.

Stroke significantly impacts the quality of life. However, the long-term cognitive evolution in stroke is poorly predictable at the individual level. There is an urgent need to better predict long-term symptoms based on acute clinical neuroimaging data.

Spatial neglect encompasses impaired verticality representation after right hemisphere stroke.

Spatial neglect after right hemisphere stroke (RHS) was recently found to encompass lateropulsion, a deficit in body orientation with respect to gravity caused by altered brain processing of graviception. By analogy, we hypothesized that spatial neglect after RHS might encompass an altered representation of verticality. We also assumed a strong relation between body neglect and impaired postural vertical, both referring to the body.

Determining an optimal posturography dataset to identify standing behaviors in the post-stroke subacute phase. Cross-sectional study.

Background: A key issue for posturography is the expression of robust results, in a simplified way. Most studies of individuals post-stroke concern the chronic phase, with small sample sizes.

Objectives: By reducing the number of posturographic indices, we aimed to determine an optimal dataset and understand typical postural behaviors in the subacute post-stroke phase.

Lateropulsion Prevalence After Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background And Objectives: Lateropulsion is a deficit of active body orientation with respect to gravity in the frontal plane, mostly observed after a stroke. It magnifies mobility limitations and represents an emerging target in rehabilitation. Efforts to design specific interventional studies require some basic knowledge of epidemiology, which is insufficient today because many studies have focused on a few severe forms in individuals called pushers.

Cognitive assessment scale for stroke patients (CASP): A multicentric validation study.

Background: The Mini Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment are commonly used as short screening batteries for assessing cognitive impairment after stroke. However, aphasia or hemispatial neglect may interfere with the results. For this reason, we developed the Cognitive Assessment scale for Stroke Patients (CASP), which takes these conditions into consideration and previously demonstrated its superiority over these scales in terms of feasibility.

A randomized sham-controlled trial on the effect of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on gait control in severe obstructive sleep apnea patients.

To determine the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the gold standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), on gait control in severe OSAS patients. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, sham-controlled monocentric study in Grenoble Alpes University Hospital, France. Gait parameters were recorded under single and dual-task conditions using a visuo-verbal cognitive task (Stroop test), before and after the 8-week intervention period.

Contribution of Basal Ganglia to the Sense of Upright: A Double-Blind Within-Person Randomized Trial of Subthalamic Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease with Pisa Syndrome.

Background: Verticality perception is frequently altered in Parkinson's disease (PD) with Pisa syndrome (PS). Is it the cause or the consequence of the PS?

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that both scenarios coexist.

Methods: We performed a double-blind within-person randomized trial (NCT02704910) in 18 individuals (median age 63.

Lateropulsion After Hemispheric Stroke: A Form of Spatial Neglect Involving Graviception.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that lateropulsion is an entity expressing an impaired body orientation with respect to gravity in relation to a biased graviception and spatial neglect.

Methods: Data from the DOBRAS cohort (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03203109) were collected 30 days after a first hemisphere stroke.

Recovery of balance and gait after stroke is deteriorated by confluent white matter hyperintensities: Cohort study.

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are well known to affect post-stroke disability, mainly by cognitive impairment. Their impact on post-stroke balance and gait disorders is unclear.

Objectives: We aimed to test the hypothesis that WMHs would independently deteriorate post-stroke balance and gait recovery.

Balance, Lateropulsion, and Gait Disorders in Subacute Stroke.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that impaired body orientation with respect to gravity (lateropulsion) would play a key role in poststroke balance and gait disorders.

Methods: Cohort study of 220 individuals consecutively admitted to a neurorehabilitation ward after a first hemisphere stroke (DOBRAS cohort [Determinants of Balance Recovery After Stroke] 2012-2018, ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03203109), with clinical data systematically collected at 1 month, then at discharge.

Speech rehabilitation in post-stroke aphasia using visual illustration of speech articulators: A case report study.

Recent studies on the remediation of speech disorders suggest that providing visual information of speech articulators may contribute to improve speech production. In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of an illustration-based rehabilitation method on speech recovery of a patient with non-fluent chronic aphasia. The software allowed visualization by the patient of reference tongue and lip movements recorded using ultrasound and video imaging.

Vaginal birth after caesarean birth in Italy: variations among areas of residence and hospitals.

Background: The rates of caesarean section (CS) are increasing globally. CS rates are one of the most frequently used indicators of health care quality. Vaginal Birth After Caesarean (VBAC) could be considered a reasonable and safe option for most women with a previous CS.