Cognitive dysfunction in patients with acute cerebellar hemorrhage

Shinichiro Maeshima¹⁾, Aiko Osawa¹⁾, Hiroshi Matsuda²⁾, Yasuhiro Miyazaki¹⁾, Fumitaka Yamane³⁾, Shoichiro Ishihawa³⁾, Hiroki Kurita⁴⁾, Aikira Satoh⁴⁾, Norio Tanahashi⁵⁾

¹⁾Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, ²⁾Department of Nuclear Medicine, ³⁾Department of Endovascular Neurosurgery, ⁴⁾Department of Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery, ⁵⁾Department of Neurology, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center

Recently, several reports suggest that cerebellar damage is associated with visual cognitive disorder, executive dysfunction, and affective change. Focusing on cognitive impairment in cerebellar hemorrhage, we evaluated the relationship between cognitive function and hematoma volume, foci, and cerebral blood flow. An abnormality was detected in 83.3% with the Mini-mental state examination, in 64.5% with the Raven’s colored progressive matrices and 76.5% with the Frontal assessment battery. The presence of cognitive impairment did not correlate with hematoma size, while subjects with cognitive impairment had a decrease in regional cerebral blood flow in the thalamus and frontal temporal lobe. Cognitive impairments associated with cerebellar hemorrhage were not rare. A detailed assessment of cognitive function is therefore necessary also in patients with infratentorial lesions.

Address correspondence to Dr. Shinichiro Maeshima, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center (1397-1 Yamane, Hidaka, Saitama 350-1298, Japan)