Stroke; a journal of cerebral circulation
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There is considerable debate regarding the efficacy of amphetamine to facilitate motor recovery after stroke or experimental brain injury. Different drug dosing and timing schedules and differing physical rehabilitation strategies may contribute to outcome variability. The present study was designed to ascertain (1) whether short-term amphetamine could induce long-term functional motor recovery in rats after an ischemic lesion modeling stroke in humans; (2) how different levels of physical rehabilitation interact with amphetamine to enhance forelimb-related functional outcome; and (3) whether motor improvement was associated with axonal sprouting from intact corticoefferent pathways originating in the contralesional forelimb motor cortex. ⋯ This study suggests that, after stroke, short-term pairing of amphetamine with sufficiently focused activity is an effective means of inducing long-term improvement in forelimb motor function. The anatomic data suggests that corticoefferent plasticity in the form of axonal sprouting contributes to the maintenance of motor recovery.
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Backgrounds and Purpose- The authors evaluated the incidence of rupture of unruptured intracranial saccular aneurysm during observation. ⋯ Size, history of subarachnoid hemorrhage, and posterior circulation aneurysms were significant risk factors for prediction of rupture of unruptured intracranial saccular aneurysms.