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Published on: July 2, 2013
Aphasia among young patients with ischemic stroke on long-term follow-up
Halvor Naess1, Liv Hammersvik, Geir Olve Skeie
1Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. halvor.naess@haukeland.no
Background:
The aim of this study was to evaluate characteristics and long-term outcome of young patients with ischemic stroke (15-49 years at stroke onset) and aphasia.
Methods:
Aphasia was defined as less than 10 points in the speech subscale of the Scandinavian Stroke Scale on long-term follow-up. Risk factors, origin, complications, social factors, and the Nottingham Health Profile subscores were compared between aphasic and nonaphasic young patients with ischemic stroke. On long-term follow-up, patients with aphasia were invited for further assessment of severity and subtype of aphasia.
Results:
The study comprised 195 patients still alive after a mean follow-up of 6 years. Twenty (10.3%) patients had aphasia. Aphasia was associated with cardiac embolism (P = .007), myocardial infarction (P = .005), epilepsy (P < .001), loss of employment (P = .021), and social isolation (P = .054). On follow-up, 13 patients with aphasia underwent further assessment. These patients had all improved into milder aphasia subtypes.
Conclusion:
Our study suggests that relatively few young patients with ischemic stroke have clinically significant aphasia on long-term follow-up. However, there are clinically significant differences between patients with and without aphasia that should be the focus of future research.
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