Treating Neurovisual Deficits and Spatial Neglect

Review
In: Clinical Pathways in Stroke Rehabilitation: Evidence-based Clinical Practice Recommendations [Internet]. Cham (CH): Springer; 2021.
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Excerpt

Up to 50% of patients with acquired brain damage due to vascular, traumatic, or degenerative origin show central visual processing deficits. Likewise, some 30–50% of right-hemisphere lesioned patients and 10% of left-hemisphere lesioned individuals post-stroke suffer from spatial neglect. The current chapter first describes the clinical problems for both diseases, followed by recommendations for their assessment and therapy. Recommendations for therapy are based on the GRADE system. For neurovisual disorders, saccadic compensation training is recommended for treating the visual scanning deficit associated with a homonymous field cut. Hemianopic alexia can be treated with reading therapy. Convergent fusional disorders and impaired stereopsis may be treated by fusional therapy with dichoptic devices. For spatial neglect, a dozen of different therapies are available, their effectiveness still being matter of scientific evaluations. Although no formal recommendation was given in the respective Cochrane analysis (Bowen et al., Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2013:CD003586, 2013), several well-controlled studies have appeared in the meanwhile, which allow some practical recommendations which are summarized in the chapter.

Publication types

  • Review