Gerafi J, et al. – The researchers examined if a screening of visuospatial inattention (VSI) and of language impairment (LI) as indicators of cortical symptoms early after stroke could predict long–term functional outcomes. At an acute stroke, visuospatial inattention had an independent effect on long–term functional outcomes. Early recognition could enable targeted rehabilitative interventions.

• The researchers evaluated a consecutive cohort of 375 ischemic stroke patients for the occurrence of VSI, in median, 7 days after admission (interquartile range 5 days) using Star Cancellation Test (SCT) and for LI (within the first 7 days) with the language item in the Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS).
• In 235 survivors without recurrent stroke, functional outcomes were evaluated by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI) 7 years later.
• At 7 years, relationships between baseline predictors and functional outcome were examined with bivariate correlations and multiple categorical regressions with optimal scaling.

• The regression model significantly described variance in mRS (R² = .435, p < .001) and identified VSI (p = .001) and neurological deficits (p < .001) (the SSS score without the language item) as the significant independent predictors.
• Also, the model for FAI was significant (R² = .269, p < .001) with VSI (p = .035) and neurological deficits (p < .001) as significant independent predictors.