An update on predicting motor recovery after stroke

Being able to predict an individual's potential for recovery of motor function after stroke may facilitate the use of more effective targeted rehabilitation strategies, and management of patient expectations and goals. This review summarises developments since 2010 of approaches based on clinical, neurophysiological and neuroimaging measures for predicting individual patients' potential for upper limb recovery. Clinical assessments alone have low prognostic accuracy. Transcranial magnetic stimulation can be used to assess the functional integrity of the corticomotor pathway, and has some predictive value but is not superior when used in isolation due to its low negative predictive value. Neuroimaging measures can be used to assess the structural integrity of descending white matter tracts. Recent studies indicate that the integrity of corticospinal and alternate motor tracts in both hemispheres may be useful predictors of motor recovery after stroke. The PREP algorithm is currently the only sequential algorithm that combines clinical, neurophysiological and neuroimaging measures at the sub-acute stage to predict the potential for subsequent recovery of upper limb function. Future research could determine if a similar algorithmic approach may be useful for predicting the recovery of gait after stroke.