BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) is a potential tool to improve motor deficits in chronic stroke patients. Safety and efficacy of this procedure in acute stroke patients have not yet been addressed. METHODS: We performed in our stroke unit a single-centre randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study to investigate safety and efficacy of anodal TDCS of the affected hemisphere in acute stroke patients. The second day from stroke onset, 50 acute stroke patients received either five-daily sessions of anodal (n=25) at 2mA for 20min or sham TDCS (n=25) to the ipsilesional primary motor cortex (M1). Motor deficit was assessed by the short form of the Fugl-Meyer motor scale (FM) and overall neurological deficit by the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at onset, at 5days after stroke and after 3months. RESULTS: No side effects were detected during either TDCS or sham. In both groups, there was a significant improvement in NIHSS and FM scores, which did not significantly differ when comparing TDCS and sham. CONCLUSIONS: Five-daily sessions of anodal TDCS to the ipsilesional M1 appear to be safe in acute stroke patients but do not improve clinical outcome.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) is a potential tool to improve motor deficits in chronic strokepatients. Safety and efficacy of this procedure in acute strokepatients have not yet been addressed. METHODS: We performed in our stroke unit a single-centre randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study to investigate safety and efficacy of anodal TDCS of the affected hemisphere in acute strokepatients. The second day from stroke onset, 50 acute strokepatients received either five-daily sessions of anodal (n=25) at 2mA for 20min or sham TDCS (n=25) to the ipsilesional primary motor cortex (M1). Motor deficit was assessed by the short form of the Fugl-Meyer motor scale (FM) and overall neurological deficit by the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at onset, at 5days after stroke and after 3months. RESULTS: No side effects were detected during either TDCS or sham. In both groups, there was a significant improvement in NIHSS and FM scores, which did not significantly differ when comparing TDCS and sham. CONCLUSIONS: Five-daily sessions of anodal TDCS to the ipsilesional M1 appear to be safe in acute strokepatients but do not improve clinical outcome.
Authors: David A Cunningham; Nicole Varnerin; Andre Machado; Corin Bonnett; Daniel Janini; Sarah Roelle; Kelsey Potter-Baker; Vishwanath Sankarasubramanian; Xiaofeng Wang; Guang Yue; Ela B Plow Journal: Restor Neurol Neurosci Date: 2015 Impact factor: 2.406
Authors: Pratik Y Chhatbar; Viswanathan Ramakrishnan; Steven Kautz; Mark S George; Robert J Adams; Wuwei Feng Journal: Brain Stimul Date: 2015-09-07 Impact factor: 8.955