Feasibility Case Study for Treating a Patient with Sensory Ataxia Following a Stroke with Kinesthetic Illusion Induced by Visual Stimulation.

BACKGROUND

Sensory ataxia is a disorder of movement coordination caused by sensory deficits, especially in kinesthetic perception. Visual stimulus-induced kinesthetic illusion (KINVIS) is a method used to provide vivid kinesthetic perception without peripheral sensory input by using a video showing pre-recorded limb movements while the actual limb remains stationary. We examined the effects of KINVIS intervention in a patient with sensory ataxia.

CASE

The patient was a 59-year-old man with a severe proprioceptive deficit caused by left thalamic hemorrhage. During KINVIS intervention, a computer screen displayed a pre-recorded mirror image video of the patient's unaffected hand performing flexion-extension movements as if it were attached to the patient's affected forearm. Kinematics during the flexion-extension movements of the paretic hand were recorded before and after 20-min interventions. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied to the affected and non-affected hemispheres. The amplitude of the motor-evoked potential (MEP) at rest was recorded for the muscles of both hands. After the intervention, the total trajectory length and the rectangular area bounding the trajectory of the index fingertip decreased. The MEP amplitude of the paretic hand increased, whereas the MEP amplitude of the non-paretic hand was unchanged.

DISCUSSION

The changes in kinematics after the intervention suggested that KINVIS therapy may be a useful new intervention for sensory ataxia, a condition for which few effective treatments are currently available. Studies in larger numbers of patients are needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying this therapeutic effect.

Informations de copyright

©2020 The Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: FK is the founding scientist of Connect Inc., a commercial company set up in October 2018 for the development of rehabilitation devices. This company does not have any relationship with the device or setup used in the present study. FK received license fees from Inter Reha Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.