Effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of right hemisphere on the rehabilitation of aphasia after cerebral infarction

Objective To investigate the effect of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation （rTMS） of right hemisphere on the rehabilitation of aphasia in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods Forty right-handed patients with acute cerebral infarction on the left hemisphere complicated with aphasia were randomly allocated into either a treatment group （n = 20） or a control group （n = 20）. There was no significant difference in the ages between the patients in both groups. They all received routine drug treatment and appropriate language training. The patients in the treatment group also received a course of low frequency rTMS at language area of right hemisphere 7 days after the symptom onset, once a day for 10 days. Their language function was evaluated by the Aphasia Battery in Chinese （ABC） before and after the treatment, and at day 90 after the onset. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale （NIHSS） and Barthel Index （BI） were used to evaluate their overall neurological function and activities of daily living. Results There were no significant differences in the ABC, NIHSS and BI scores between the control group and the treatment group before and after rTMS; at day 90 after the onset, the ABC scores were improved significantly in the treatment group （P 〈 0.05）, however, there was still no significant difference between the NIHSS and BI scores. There were significant differences between the ABC scores before and after the rTMS in the treatment group （P 〈 0.01 ）, and there was no significant difference between the NIHSS and ABC scores, however, the 3 scores were improved more significantly than those before and after the treatment at day 90 after the onset （P 〈0.01）. There were no significant difference in the 3 scores before and after the treatment in the control group, and at day 90 after the onset the 3 scores were improved more significantly than those before and after rTMS （P 〈 0.01 ）. Conclusions The early low-frequency rTMS of the fight hemisphere contributes to the rehabilitation of language function in patients with acute cerebral infarction complicated with aphasia. Key words: transcranial magnetic stimulation;  cerebral infarction;  aphasia