Review Article
Why Is It Difficult to Predict Language Impairment and Outcome in Patients with Aphasia after Stroke?
Andreas Charidimou, Dimitrios Kasselimis, Maria Varkanitsa, Caroline Selai, Constantin Potagas, Ioannis Evdokimidis
Published:
April 01, 2014
DOI:
10.3988/jcn.2014.10.2.75
License:
Copyright © 2014 Korean Neurological Association2014This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
One of the most devastating consequences of stroke is aphasia. Communication problems after stroke can severely impair the patient's quality of life and make even simple everyday tasks challenging. Despite intense research in the field of aphasiology, the type of language impairment has not yet been localized and correlated with brain damage, making it difficult to predict the language outcome for stroke patients with aphasia. Our primary objective is to present the available evidence that highlights the difficulties of predicting language impairment after stroke. The different levels of complexity involved in predicting the lesion site from language impairment and ultimately predicting the long-term outcome in stroke patients with aphasia were explored. Future directions and potential implications for research and clinical practice are highlighted.