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19th World Congress of Neurology, Poster Abstracts / Journal of the Neurological Sciences 285 S1 (2009) S155S339

may reect the presence of bilateral descending pathways from the motor cortex and/ or brainstem. The higher IO activity when moving the hemiplegic leg may reect a number of mechanisms including overow of muscle activity or compensatory pelvic movements. PO05-MO-09 Exploring the validity of ultrasound as a measure of trunk muscle activity in acute stroke A.D. Hough1 , J.A. Freeman1 , J.F. Marsden1 , S. Shaw2 , M. Bakheit2 . 1 School of Health Professions, University Of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom; 2 Mount Gould Hospital, Plymouth Primary Care Trust, Plymouth, United Kingdom Aims: Impairments with gross trunk movements are common after supratentorial stroke and have a negative impact on balance, walking and function. Understanding the impact of stroke and therapeutic interventions on individual trunk muscles is problematic as the muscles span multiple segments, are rarely activated in isolation and in some cases lie deep to other muscles. The deep abdominal muscles are of particular interest given their proposed role in trunk stability and balance. This study explores whether valid recordings of deep abdominal activity can be measured using non-invasive ultrasound in people with an acute stroke by comparing the use of ultrasound to gold standard recordings using ne wire electromyography (EMG). Methods: People with an acute supratentorial stroke (<3 months) were recruited from a specialist inpatient stroke rehabilitation unit. Fine wire needles (50 mm, 25ga, Motion Lab Systems, USA) were inserted under ultrasound guidance into the transverses abdominus (TA) and internal oblique (IO) muscles bilaterally. Simultaneously recordings of ultrasound images (7.5 MHz linear transducer PICO, Medison Ltd) and ne wire electromyography (EMG, 2000Hz sampling rate) were made during head or hip exion in supine and upper limb abduction in sitting. Results: 10 people with an acute stroke (9 female, 73.69 yrs, mean standard deviation) have been recruited. The mean correlation between the EMG amplitude and the percentage change in muscle thickness was r2 = 0.55 IO and r2 = 0.62 TA. The correlation tended to be higher when the muscles ipsilateral to the stroke were measured, when measures were made at the end rather than at the beginning of the movement when muscle activity was low and during specic tasks such as upper limb contralateral abduction (r2 = 0.89). Conclusions: The results suggest that change in thickness measured by ultrasound may be a valid measure of deep abdominal muscle activity following acute stroke. PO05-MO-11 Discriminative validity of semantic verbal uency measures for differentiating the normals from aphasic patients H.H. Kim1 , J.W. Kim2 . 1 Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Graduate Program in Speech and Language Pathology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; 2 Graduate Program in Speech and Language Pathology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Purpose: Administrating time of 1 minute in verbal uency measures can be lengthy and thus bothersome in utilizing in aphasic patients because they often could respond only a few items. The purpose of this study was to validate if 30-second administration time for semantic verbal uency (SVF) measure is useful and efcient for aphasic patients. Method: We included 53 stroke patients (27 Aphasic Patient (AP) group, 26 Non-aphasic Patient (NP) group) and age-, sex-, and education-matched 28 normal controls (NC). They were given animal category of SVF and we measured four different variables: (1) Rising Time (RT) measuring between the examiners command and patients verbal onset, and number of animals (2) within 30-

second time frame, (3) within 3060second time frame, (4) within 60-second time frame. Results: The performance of rst 30-second, second 30-second, and number of animals within 60-second time frame was gradually diminished in the order of NC, NP, and AP (p < 0.001). On the other hand, RT showed increasing tendency in the order of NC, NP and AP. In the multiple linear regression analyses, the performance of rst 30-second and second 30-second was associated with the number of animals within 60-second time frame (R2 = 1.000, adjusted R2 = 1.000, p = 0.000). The most optimal cut-off scores to differentiate each group were calculated. Conclusions: These results suggest that 30-second administration time for semantic verbal uency task can be used to differentiate between the normals and aphasic patients. PO05-MO-12 The usage of VocaStim device in rehabilitation of the patients with dysphagy and dysphonia A. Obukhovskaya. Pirogov National Medical Surgery Centre, National Centre of Cerebrovascular Disorders, Moscow, Russian Federation A relevant question is the appliance of electrostimulative devices when various pathologies of speech and voice are being diagnosed and cured. The VocaStim device is the rst to realize the idea which allows diagnosing and curing the paresis of larynx, plica vocalis or the muscles of the speech apparatus. By means of using electrostimulation, depending on the kind of the current and chosen parameters, it is possible to improve blood circulation, to stimulate the nutrition of the muscles and build them up in case of atrophy, to stimulate the neural tissue in cases of peripheral or central paralysis, or to perform anesthetization and electrophoresis in order to transfer medical products in tissues. Introduction: The aim of this report is to show the effectiveness of using the VocaStim device in rehabilitation of the paresis of larynx and plica vocalis. Methods: There were total of 87 patients observed, 48 of them having hypotonic dysphonia and 39 suffering from bulbar dysarthria, dysphagy. The procedures lasted from 10 to 20 days, 2 times a day. During electrostimulation patients had to perform speech gymnastics and speech therapy. Results: Due to the research, considerable improvement of the patients with speech problems was marked after 23 seances. The phonation time increases, the voice becomes stronger, the level of hoarseness lowers and the patient is able to continue speaking for a longer time without being tired. Considerable improvement of the patients with dysphagy was marked after 1012 seances. Swallowing difculties disappear. The level of hyperptyalism is lowered, the condition of the muscles of the speech apparatus and trophism are improved. Conclusion: All things considered, it is essential to point out that the usage of the VocaStim device in addition to the classical logopaedics methods allows to reach positive results in shorter rehabilitation periods. PO05-MO-13 Transcranial brain stimulation and post-stroke recovery of visual eld defects S.A. Brandt, J. Rohmel, A. Kraft, M. Olma. Neurology, Charit e Hospital, Berlin, Germany This presentation will focus on the recent development in transcranial brain stimulation and its potential to improve poststroke recovery of visual eld defects. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive method for delivering weak polarizing electrical currents to the human cortex via two electrodes placed on the scalp. TDCS is believed to bias the resting potential of cortical neurons. TDCS can induce long-term changes in excitability of the cortex remaining for over an hour after tDCS. These after-effects may be analogous to long-term