Combined Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Vision Restoration Training in Subacute Stroke Rehabilitation: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Visual field defects after posterior cerebral artery stroke can be improved by vision restoration training (VRT), but when combined with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which alters brain excitability, vision recovery can be potentiated in the chronic stage. To date, the combination of VRT and tDCS has not been evaluated in postacute stroke rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether combined tDCS and VRT can be effectively implemented in the early recovery phase following stroke, and to explore the feasibility, safety and efficacy of an early intervention.

DESIGN: Open-label pilot study including a case series of 7 tDCS/VRT versus a convenience sample of 7 control patients (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02935413).

SETTING: Rehabilitation center.

SUBJECTS: Patients with homonymous visual field defects following a posterior cerebral artery stroke.

METHODS: Seven homonymous hemianopia patients were prospectively treated with 10 sessions of combined tDCS (2.mA, 10 daily sessions of 20 minutes) and VRT at 66 (±50) days on average poststroke. Visual field recovery was compared with the retrospective data of 7 controls, whose defect sizes and age of lesions were matched to those of the experimental subjects and who had received standard rehabilitation with compensatory eye movement and exploration training.

RESULTS: All 7 patients in the treatment group completed the treatment protocol. The safety and acceptance were excellent, and patients reported occasional skin itching beneath the electrodes as the only minor side effect. Irrespective of their treatment, both groups (treatment and control) showed improved visual fields as documented by an increased mean sensitivity threshold in decibels in standard static perimetry. Recovery was significantly greater (P < .05) in the tDCS/VRT patients (36.73% ± 37.0%) than in the controls (10.74% ± 8.86%).

CONCLUSION: In this open-label pilot study, tDCS/VRT in subacute stroke was demonstrated to be safe, with excellent applicability and acceptance of the treatment. Preliminary effectiveness calculations show that tDCS/VRT may be superior to standard vision training procedures. A confirmatory, larger-sample, controlled, randomized, and double-blind trial is now underway to compare real-tDCS- versus sham-tDCS-supported visual field training in the early vision rehabilitation phase.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.