ACUPUNCTURE IN THE TREATMENT OF PARALYSIS IN CHRONIC AND ACUTE STROKEPATIENTS IMPROVEMENT CORRELATED WITH SPECIFIC CT SCAN LESION SITES

A total of 20 stroke patients received acupuncture, including 10 chron ic and 10 acute patients; 19 of the 20 patients (95%) could be correct ly classified regarding beneficial response to acupuncture, versus poo r response, based on CT scan lesion site data, alone. Patients with be neficial response had damage to less than half of the motor pathway ar eas on CT scan, especially in the periventricular white matter area (P VWM) at the level of the body of the lateral ventricle. Overall, 8 of the 20 patients receiving acupuncture had beneficial response with mea surable objective improvement in motor function, including 3 of the 10 chronic patients treated at > 3 months poststroke, and 5 of the 10 ac ute patients treated at < 3 months poststroke. Among the 8 patients wi th beneficial response, significant improvements were observed in knee flexion, knee extension, and shoulder abduction. Neither age, nor mon ths poststroke when acupuncture was begun, was significantly correlate d with the total number of improved tests, post-acupuncture. Two chron ic patients with beneficial response first began receiving acupuncture at 3 years and 6 years poststroke. Most improvements were sustained f or at least 4 months after the last acupuncture treatment.