Published in:
Open Access
01-12-2022 | Stroke | Research
Sleep patterns correlates with the efficacy of tDCS on post-stroke patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness
Authors:
Jie Yu, Yuehao Wu, Biwen Wu, Chuan Xu, Jiaye Cai, Xinrui Wen, Fanxia Meng, Li Zhang, Fangping He, Lirong Hong, Jian Gao, Jingqi Li, Jintai Yu, Benyan Luo
Published in:
Journal of Translational Medicine
|
Issue 1/2022
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Abstract
Background
The subclassification of prolonged disorders of consciousness (DoC) based on sleep patterns is important for the evaluation and treatment of the disease. This study evaluates the correlation between polysomnographic patterns and the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in patients with prolonged DoC due to stroke.
Methods
In total, 33 patients in the vegetative state (VS) with sleep cycles or without sleep cycles were randomly assigned to either active or sham tDCS groups. Polysomnography was used to monitor sleep changes before and after intervention. Additionally, clinical scale scores and electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis were performed before and after intervention to evaluate the efficacy of tDCS on the patients subclassified according to their sleep patterns.
Results
The results suggest that tDCS improved the sleep structure, significantly prolonged total sleep time (TST) (95%CI: 14.387–283.527, P = 0.013) and NREM sleep stage 2 (95%CI: 3.157–246.165, P = 0.040) of the VS patients with sleep cycles. It also significantly enhanced brain function of patients with sleep cycles, which were reflected by the increased clinical scores (95%CI: 0.340–3.440, P < 0.001), the EEG powers and functional connectivity in the brain and the 6-month prognosis. Moreover, the changes in NREM sleep stage 2 had a significant positive correlation with each index of the β band.
Conclusion
This study reveals the importance of sleep patterns in the prognosis and treatment of prolonged DoC and provides new evidence for the efficacy of tDCS in post-stroke patients with VS patients subclassified by sleep pattern.