Affective and Behavioural Dysfunctions in Patients with Subcortical Stroke

Objective: To investigate the association of ischaemic and haemorrhagic strokes with the site of subcortical focal cerebrovascular injuries with affective, behavioural and cognitive dysfunctions in the acute phase and after three months. Sample: 58 patients with focal cerebrovascular injuries; mean age 61.5 ± 13.5, 72.4% male. Control group: 20 healthy subjects, mean age 67.1 ± 7.6, 50% male. Results: Significant differences were observed (p = 0.006) between the acute phase and three months later on the apathy items of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) in patients with subcortical stroke. Significant differences were also observed on the affective scale of the BRMS (p = 0.004), the behaviour scale of the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) (p = 0.000), and on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) (p = 0.006). No significant differences were observed on the Hamilton Rating Scale-Depression (HRSM) (p = 0.101). Significant differences were found according to the infarct type: patients with haemorrhagic lesions had higher raw scores on the HRS-D than those with ischaemic lesions (p = 0.024). Conclusions: The performance of patients with subcortical stroke on affective, behavioural and cognitive scales improves after three months. Patients with haemorrhagic lesions are more likely to be depressive than those with ischaemic lesions.