Results of a study suggest that a type of magnetic stimulation of the brain - repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation or rTMS - performed on the side of the brain unaffected by stroke improves hand function after stroke.

With rTMS, the head is placed close to intermittent magnetic fields. No anesthesia is required and the procedure is performed on an outpatient basis. rTMS has been used to treat depression and movement disorders with mixed results.

In the current study, Dr. Naoyuki Takeuchi from Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan and colleagues investigated whether rTMS of the motor cortex contralateral to the lesion could improve motor performance in the affected hand of 10 stroke patients. They report their results in the journal Stroke this month.

The subjects had already undergone “well-performed motor training,” the team notes, and rTMS produced significant improvement in motor function, compared with fake stimulation. The improvement was short-lived, however, lasting for no more than 30 minutes after stimulation.

The results point to “not only a treatment for stroke but also the role of the contralesional primary motor area after stroke,” Takeuchi told Reuters Health. “This study will be useful for a future study of stroke.” Ideal candidates for this approach, Takeuchi said, are those that are able to move the hand to some extent after suffering a stroke.

SOURCE: Stroke December 2005.