Influence of visual symptoms on posturographic performance after stroke

PURPOSE: to verify the occurrence of visual symptoms in subjects with dizziness after stroke, to compare the posturographic results and to correlate their clinical aspects with the characteristics of the stroke. METHODS: This is an observational, cross-sectional study with quantitative analysis. The inclusion criteria for the sample composition were to report dizziness after ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and at least 18 years old. We evaluated 50 patients through clinical anamnesis and Dynamic Foam-Laser Posturography. Anteroposterior deviations were calculated with the measures of each SOT. The preferences of the functions were analyzed according to the means of the Sensory Organization Test. RESULTS: twenty-eight subjects had stroke-related visual symptoms. The prevalent kind of dizziness was imbalance and the most frequent stroke was ischemic, mainly in the carotid territory. The values of tests were below the standard; there was a relationship between older subjects and proprioceptive system, and between visual preference and presence of visual symptoms, as well as the location of the posterior stroke. CONCLUSION: there was a high frequency of visual symptoms among subjects with stroke sequelae and these have significant relationship with the worst values in visual preference system.