CHARACTERISTICS OF COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH RIGHT-SIDE AND LEFT-SIDE ISCHEMIC STROKE

Abstract

The goal of the study is to assess the characteristics of cognitive dysfunctions in patients with right-side and left-side ischemic stroke (IS).
 Materials and Methods. We examined 55 patients (aged 38–65) with right-side and left-side ischemic stroke during the early rehabilitation period. The patients were treated at the regional vascular center, District Clinical Hospital, Khanty-Mansiysk in 2019–2022. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to check patients for cognitive impairments: Frontal assessment battery, Verbal fluency test, Clock-drawing test, Backward digit span test, Visual assessment battery, Auditory assessment battery, and Verbal assessment battery.
 Results. Cognitive impairments are common post-stroke complications, which can significantly complicate rehabilitation therapy. In the early rehabilitation period, 41.8 % of patients with a hemispheric stroke demonstrate predementia. In patients with right-side stroke, predementia was observed in 22.2 %, whereas 60.7 % of patients with left-side stroke exhibited impaired abilities (p<0.05). There was a significant decrease in short-term memory, time knowledge and orientation abilities in patients with left-side stroke. Assessment of visual, auditory and verbal memory also revealed poorer performance in patients with left-side stroke compared to those with right-side stroke – 20 (17–22) points versus 22 (22–24) points (p<0.05). Moderate frontal dysfunction was detected in all patients (100 %).
 Conclusion. All patients with hemispheric stroke should undergo early cognitive rehabilitation, even if there are no active complaints. Particular attention should be paid to patients with left-side brain damage.