[ARTICLE] A Randomised Controlled Trial of Treatment for Post-Stroke Homonymous Hemianopia: Screening and Recruitment – Full Text

ABSTRACT

The authors report the screening process and recruitment figures for the VISION (Visual Impairment in Stroke; Intervention Or Not) trial. This is a prospective, randomised, single-blinded, three-arm controlled trial in 14 UK acute hospital stroke units. Stroke teams identified stroke survivors suspected as having homonymous hemianopia.

Interventions included Fresnel prisms versus visual search training versus standard care (information only). Primary outcome was change in visual field assessment from baseline to 26 weeks. Secondary measures included change in quality-of-life questionnaires.

Recruitment opened in May 2011. A total of 1171 patients were screened by the local principal investigators. Of 1171 patients, 178 (15.2%) were eligible for recruitment: 87 patients (7.4%) provided consent and were recruited; 91 patients (7.8%) did not provide consent, and 993 of 1171 patients (84.8%) failed to meet the eligibility criteria. Almost half were excluded due to complete/partial recovery of hemianopia (43.6%; n = 511).

The most common ineligibility reason was recovery of hemianopia. When designing future trials in this area, changes in eligibility criteria/outcome selection to allow more patients to be recruited should be considered, e.g., less stringent levels of visual acuity/refractive error. Alternative outcomes measurable in the home environment, rather than requiring hospital attendance for follow-up, could facilitate increased recruitment.

Continue —> A Randomised Controlled Trial of Treatment for Post-Stroke Homonymous Hemianopia: Screening and Recruitment – Neuro-Ophthalmology – Volume 40, Issue 1

Figure 1. Flow chart of recruitment figures.

 

[ARTICLE] Virtual reality training improves balance function

Virtual reality is a new technology that simulates a three-dimensional virtual world on a computer and enables the generation of visual, audio, and haptic feedback for the full immersion of users. Users can interact with and observe objects in three-dimensional visual space without limitation. At present, virtual reality training has been widely used in rehabilitation therapy for balance dysfunction. This paper summarizes related articles and other articles suggesting that virtual reality training can improve balance dysfunction in patients after neurological diseases. When patients perform virtual reality training, the prefrontal, parietal cortical areas and other motor cortical networks are activated. These activations may be involved in the reconstruction of neurons in the cerebral cortex. Growing evidence from clinical studies reveals that virtual reality training improves the neurological function of patients with spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy and other neurological impairments. These findings suggest that virtual reality training can activate the cerebral cortex and improve the spatial orientation capacity of patients, thus facilitating the cortex to control balance and increase motion function.

via Virtual reality training improves balance function Mao Y, Chen P, Li L, Huang D – Neural Regen Res.

Efficacy and feasibility of home-based training of individuals with homonymous visual field defects.

…Findings suggest that home-based compensatory training is an inexpensive accessible rehabilitation option for individuals with HVFDs, which can result in objective benefits in searching and reading, as well as improving quality of life…

μέσω National Rehabilitation Information Center.