Effects of excitatory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the P3 point in chronic stroke patients—case reports

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effects of excitatory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the international 10–20 system P3 point (intraparietal sulcus region) in chronic patients with a frontal lesion and parietal sparing due to stroke on the impaired upper (UL) and lower limb (LL) as measured by the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA). Methods: Three patients (C1: 49.83/2.75, C2: 53.17/3.83, C3: 63.33/3.08-years-old at stroke/years post-stroke, respectively) received two weeks (five days/week) of rTMS at 10 Hz of P3. A patient was treated in similar conditions with a sham coil (S1: 56.58/4.33). Patients were evaluated before, after, and two months post-treatment (A1, A2, and A3, respectively). Results: For LL, the scores of the motor function subsection of C1 and C3 as well as the sensory function of C2 increased by A2 and remained by A3. For UL, the score of the motor function of C2 and C3 also increased, but the score of C3 decreased by A3. The score of the range of motion subsection of C3 increased by the two follow-up evaluations. Conclusion: This study suggests excitatory rTMS over P3 may be of use for some chronic stroke patients, but these findings need to be verified in a future clinical trial.