Change of Gait Pattern of Patients with Ataxic Gait by Cerebellar Infarction in Comparison to Corticospinal Tract Stroke Patients

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed to compare the gait patterns of cerebellar infarction patients with those of corticospinal tract stroke patients through a follow-up of patients with ataxic gait due to cerebellar infarction and corticospinal tract stroke. Methods We investigated two cases of patients with cerebellar infarction and two cases each of acute or chronic corticospinal tract stroke who were hospitalized at Wonkwang University Gawangju Medical Center from September 1, 2017 to February 15, 2020 based on medical records and gait analyses. The spatiotemporal gait parameters of each patient were measured three times at 2-week intervals except those of the chronic corticospinal tract stroke patients, which were measured twice at a 1-month interval. Results Spatiotemporal gait parameters, which include velocity, cadence, step length, stride length, and single support, were consistently increased in the cerebellar infarction patients in comparison to the corticospinal tract stroke patients. The stance phase was decreased in all the patients. Conclusions The cerebellar infarction patients’ gait spatiotemporal parameters were found to consistently improve. Moreover, gait analysis can be used to effectively measure improvement of ataxic gait. Keywords: gait analysis, cerebellar infarction, spatiotemporal gait analysis