Restoration of Speech Functions in Patients with Aphasia in the Early Rehabilitation Period of Ischemic Stroke

• Published in: Neuroscience and behavioral physiology 2018-06, Vol.48 (5), p.646-649
• Main Authors: Kotov, S. V., Belova, Yu. A., Shcherbakova, M. M., Chervinskaya, A. D., Isakova, E. V., Volchenkova, T. V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aphasia; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Ischemia; Neurobiology; Neurosciences; Patients; Recovery of function; Rehabilitation; Speech; Speech therapy; Stroke
• ISSN: 0097-0549; 1573-899X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11055-018-0611-7

Objectives. To study the efficacy of complex therapy including daily speech therapy and two courses of Cellex in patients with aphasia in the early recovery period of ischemic stroke (IS). Materials and methods. Forty patients in the early recovery period of IS in the basin of the left middle cerebral artery with moderate or severe aphasia were studied. Twenty patients received complex therapy, including daily sessions with a speech therapist/aphasia specialist for 10 days using an improved method followed by self-study using educational materials and two 10-day courses of Cellex injections; the other 20 patients received only speech therapy. Treatment efficacy was evaluated using an automatic “Aphasia patient study program,” the Goodglass–Kaplan scale, and the modified Rankin scale. Results and conclusions. Patients of both groups achieved significant improvements in speech functions, communicative abilities, and functional recovery ( p < 0.01); patients receiving complex therapy including two courses of Cellex injections showed significantly higher levels of rehabilitation ( p < 0.05). These results allow the inclusion of Cellex into the complex restorative treatment of patients with poststroke speech impairments to be recommended.