Project on acute stroke

Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability worldwide. Upper limb motor deficits significantly contribute to reduced quality of life. It is therefore of paramount importance to determine the mechanisms underlying upper limb functional recovery in stroke patients and to understand why some of them experience very little recovery.

We aim to demonstrate that quantitative brain MRI parameters of certain regions involved in motor control are predictive of motor recovery because these parameters are sensitive to brain microstructure and because histological processes underlie brain plasticity after stroke.

We are recruiting patients from the Stroke Unit of the University Hospital of Liège with a first unilateral ischemic stroke causing upper limb paresis over a period of approximately 3 years. Quantitative brain MRI data (7 Tesla) will be collected between 7 and 14 days after the stroke. We deliberately chose this time window because, histologically, the subacute phase after a stroke is characterized by a reduction in inflammatory phenomena (highly present in the acute phase). This time frame therefore allows for a better characterization of the brain microstructure underlying brain plasticity.

Upper limb motor recovery will be assessed using a composite score to provide a more complete representation of strength, speed, and dexterity. This score will be calculated from the Fugl-Meyer score, the ARAT, grip strength, the SAFE score, and the nine-hole peg test. The difference between the initial score and the score at 3 months will be considered a measure of upper limb functional recovery.