Therapeutic effect of repetitive magnetic stimulation combined with speech and language therapy in post-stroke non-fluent aphasia

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the therapeutic effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and speech and language therapy (SLT) on the improvement of performance on the Korean-version of theWestern Aphasia Battery (K-WAB) in post-stroke non-fluent aphasic patients. METHODS: Twenty post-stroke, non-fluent aphasic patients were enrolled and assigned to one of two groups: a case group (n = 10) or a control group (n = 10). Participants were recruited from the inpatient clinic of the Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Department of Bundang Jesaeng General Hospital from March 2011 to January 2012. The case group received rTMS and SLT and the control group received SLT; both groups received these therapies for four weeks. Language functioning was evaluated using K-WAB before and after treatment. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups' baseline characteristics and initial values (p > 0.05). After four weeks of therapy, there were significant improvements in repetition and naming in the case group (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant improvement in the control group (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: rTMS combined with SLT can be an effective therapeutic method for treating aphasia in post-stroke non-fluent aphasic patients, although additional controlled and more systemic studies should be conducted.