Lateropulsion: An Overlooked Driver of Balance and Gait Deficits in Stroke?

Improving orientation with respect to gravity enhances balance and gait recovery after stroke: DOBRAS cohort

BACKGROUND

Lateropulsion is a deficit in body orientation with respect to gravity, frequent after stroke. Although it is a primary factor affecting mobility, the impact of its attenuation on balance and gait recovery has never been investigated. Moreover, most studies on the lateropulsion time-course focus on severe forms suspected to have a poor recovery, which is not proven.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate lateropulsion attenuation and test 2 hypotheses: 1) lateropulsion attenuation greatly contributes to balance and gait recovery and 2) severe forms of lateropulsion recover slower than moderate forms.

METHODS

This longitudinal study involved individuals included in the Determinants of Balance Recovery After Stroke (DOBRAS) cohort, after a first-ever hemispheric stroke, with data collected on day 30 (D30), D60 and D90 post-stroke. Body orientation with respect to gravity was assessed using the Scale for Contraversive Pushing (both scores and severity grouping), in parallel with balance (Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke) and gait (modified Fugl-Meyer Gait Assessment).

RESULTS

Among the 106 eligible individuals (mean age 66.5 [SD 9.7] years), on D30, 43 (41%) were considered upright and 63 (59%) showed lateropulsion: 30 (28%) moderate and 33 (31%) severe. Most individuals with lateropulsion (73%) improved their body orientation, progressing from severe to moderate lateropulsion, or becoming upright. However, half were still not upright on D90. The improvement in body orientation had a large impact on mobility, especially in individuals with severe lateropulsion, in whom it explained about 50% of balance and gait recovery between D30 and D60, then 20% (D60-D90). For moderate lateropulsion, its attenuation explained about 20% of balance and gait recovery until D90. Lateropulsion attenuation was not slower in individuals with severe forms.

CONCLUSIONS

Lateropulsion attenuation enhances balance and gait recovery in individuals after stroke suggesting that specific rehabilitation of body orientation with respect to gravity might help to recover mobility.

REGISTRATION

NCT03203109.

Lateropulsion Prevalence after Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Lateropulsion is a deficit of active body orientation with respect to gravity in the frontal plane, mostly observed after a stroke. It magnifies mobility limitations and so represents an emerging target in rehabilitation. Efforts to design specific interventional studies require some basic knowledge of epidemiology, which is insufficient today because many studies focused on a few severe forms in individuals called pushers. The objectives of this study were to bridge this gap.

METHODS

We systematically searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Clinical Trials up to 31 May 2021 for original research reporting a prevalence or incidence of post-stroke lateropulsion. We followed MOOSE and PRISMA guidelines. Eligibility for inclusion, data extraction, and study quality (Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines) were evaluated by two reviewers who used a standardized protocol: PROSPERO (CRD42020175037). A random-effects meta-analysis was used to obtain the pooled prevalence, whose heterogeneity was investigated by subgroup analysis (stroke locations and post-stroke phases) and meta-regression.

RESULTS

We identified 22 studies (5125 individuals; mean age 68.5 years; 42.6% female; assessed 24 days, on average, after stroke), most published after 2000. The studies' quality was adequate, with only 8 (36.4%) showing risk of bias. The pooled lateropulsion prevalence was 55.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] [35.9-74.2]) and was consistent across assessment tools. After supratentorial stroke, lateropulsion prevalence was 41% (95%CI [33.5-48.5]), and only 12.5% (95%CI [9.2-15.9]) in individuals with severe lateropulsion, called pushers. Meta-regression did not reveal any effect of age, sex, geographic region, publication year, or study quality. Lateropulsion prevalence progressively decreased from 52.8% (95%CI [40.7-65]) in the acute phase to 37% (95%CI [26.3-47.7]) in the early subacute phase and 22.8% (95%CI [0-46.3]) in the late subacute phase. The ratio of right- to left-hemispheric stroke with lateropulsion increased as a function of time: 1.7 in the acute phase to 7.7 in the late subacute phase. After infratentorial stroke, lateropulsion prevalence was very high, reaching 83.2% (95%CI [63.9-100.3]).

CONCLUSIONS

Post-stroke lateropulsion prevalence is high, which appeals for its systematic detection to guide early interventions. Uprightness is predominantly controlled from the right hemisphere.