Chronic cognitive disturbances after a single supratentorial lacunar infarct

At a minimum of 6 months after their stroke, 16 single supratentorial lacunar infarct (SSLI) patients and 16 controls underwent neuropsychological testing. After 6 months, neuropsychological testing was repeated to investigate the robustness and validity of the initial test results.

An SSLI can cause subtle cognitive disturbances, which could explain the decrease in quality of life often observed in patients with these lesions. It is unclear at which stage after the occurrence of neurologic deficit possible neuropsychological impairment can be interpreted as chronic and at what moment neuropsychological testing can best be performed.

Patients and controls were administered a specifically developed neuropsychological test battery that included 14 standardized tasks tapping the main cognitive domains. Differences in test-performances between the groups were analyzed by parametric statistics.

At both examinations, similar abnormalities were found on five demanding neuropsychological tasks (language, concept shifting, abstraction, incidental memory, and verbal fluency), suggesting a generalized energetic deficiency.

This long-term follow-up study showed evidence of subtle neurocognitive deficits after the occurrence of an SSLI, which are robust after 6 months. These mild cognitive disturbances may explain the decrease in quality of life that patients with an SSLI often experience.