Right brain hemisphere lesions affecting language functioning in the acute phase of stroke recovery: A Croatian survey.

Greater empirical and scientific attention is still put on patients with left brain hemisphere (LBH) damage where language impairments are common and expected. In patients with RBH damage, language assessment is therefore rarely done in the acute phase of stroke recovery.

Purpose: To investigate language impairments in the acute phase of stroke using a Croatian standardized language battery for the first time and compare patients with RBH stroke, LBH stroke and healthy individuals.

Methods: This study compares language functioning in three groups of conveniently sampled participants: RBH stroke patients, LBH stroke patients and healthy individuals. Kruskal Wallis H test was used to evaluate a combined group comparison, after which a post-hoc Dunn test was performed.

Results: Patients with RBH stroke scored significantly lower than healthy individuals on the CAT:HR in verbal fluency, comprehension of written sentences, naming, and total production. In addition, comprehension of written and spoken sentences did not differ between patients with RBH and LBH stroke patients which suggests the existence of language impairment (p>.05).

Conclusion: RBH stroke can significantly impair language comprehension and production in the acute phase of stroke recovery emphasizing the importance of early detection.