A Study on the Differences of Cognitive Functions, Neurobehavioral Symptoms and Daily Living Functions According to the Lateralization of Lesion in Patients with Non-Traumatic Subcortical Cerebrovascular Disease

Park, Y S; Lee, Y H; Choi, Y H; Ko, D K; Chung, Y C; Park, B K; Kim, S J; Chung, S H; Ko, B H; Song, I B; Park, K W; Lee, D H

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was designed to find clinical factors that could be differentiated by the lateralization of lesion and also find clinical factors to predict the lateralization of lesion.
METHODS
The subjects were 65 cooperative inpatients and outpatients with non-traumatic subcortical cerebrovascular disease without neurologic and psychiatric history from January 1995 to September 1995 ; 48 patients in Kyung Hee University, Oriental Medicine Hospital, 35 patients in Anam Hospital, Korea University were examined as subjects, but authors excluded 20 patients whose data were incomplete or who had uncertain lesions on brain CT or MRI. The 65 patients were divided into three groups-group with left hemispheric lesion, group with right hemispheric lesion, group with both hemispheric lesion-according to the finding of brain imaging study. Their cognitive functions were evaluated by the Benton Neuropsychological Assessment(BNA), their subjective neurobehavioral symptoms by Symptom Check List-90-R (SCL-90-R), their objective neurobehavioral symptoms by Neurobehavioral Rating Scale, and their daily living functions by Geriatric Evaluation by Relative's Rating Instrument(GERRI) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale(IADLs).
RESULTS
The results were as follows : 1) The results of cognitive function test indicated that the group with right hemispheric lesion showed low functions in Tactile Form Perception(left), the group with left hemispheric lesion showed low functions in Finger localization(right), the group with right hemispheric lesion showed low functions in Finger Localization(left). 2) Though, there were little significant differences in subjective neurobehavioral symptoms, the group with right hemispheric lesion showed higher scores in all symptoms except hostility. 3) Though, there were little significant differences in objective neurobehavioral symptoms, the group with both hemispheric lesion showed higher scores in cognition, guilty/disinhibition, the group with left hemispheric lesion showed higher scores in lability of mood, the group with right hemispheric lesion showed highest scores in psychotism, neurotism, agitation-hostility and decreased motivation/emotional withdrawal . 4) There were little significant differences among three groups in Daily Living Functions, but the group with right hemispheric lesion showed the lowest functions in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. 5) As a result of discriminant analysis on each factor's contribution to the prediction of lesion, Finger Localization(left), Phoneme Discrimination and Tactile Form Perception(right) showed that they had the potentiality to predict lesion.
CONCLUSION
The results suggest that there are little significant differences among the groups of three non-traumatic subcortical cerebrovascular disease in cognitive functions, but the group with right hemispheric lesion showed more serious and various chaged in subjective and objective neurobehavioral symptoms, and showed low functions in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. This results suggest the possibility that the decline of the daily living function in the group with right hemispheric lesion were due to various symptoms, not due to cognitive dysfunction. The confirmation of the possibility should be worked out through the follow-up study of some groups containing cortical lesion. Apart from these findings, Finger Localization, Tactile Form Perception(right) and Phoneme Discrimination suggest that they can be used as clinically valuable cognitive parameters that predict the lateralization of lesion in non-traumatic cerebrovascular disease.