Subjective Experiences of 24 Patients Dramatically Recovering From Stroke

Background There are no reports describing patients’ perception of having a stroke and then dramatically recovering. Summary of Report We interviewed 24 patients randomized at our center to intravenous tissue plasminogen activator or placebo in an ongoing multicenter blinded prospective study. These patients demonstrated at least 50% improvement or an absolute improvement of 5 points on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale during the first 24 hours after treatment, with 7 patients returning completely to normal. Twelve of 24 of the strokes involved the right middle cerebral artery, 2 of 24 the right posterior cerebral artery, 8 of 24 the left middle cerebral artery, and 2 of 24 the basilar artery territory. CT scans at 24 hours or 1 week showed infarction in 19 of 24. Most patients (19 of 24) could clearly recall the exact circumstances involving the onset of their stroke, but only 12 of 24 were aware of the magnitude of their neurological deficit (7 of 14 right hemisphere and 4 of 8 left hemisp...