Various tests of left neglect are associated with distinct territories of hypoperfusion in acute stroke

Hemispatial neglect is among the most disabling consequences of right hemisphere stroke. However, there is no consensus on the optimal assessments to identify neglect. We hypothesized that different tests for neglect given the same day (i) detect distinct aspects and types of neglect, (ii) are sensitive to different cognitive functions (beyond spatially specific processing) and (iii) are associated with distinct regions of hypoperfusion. We examined data from 135 participants with acute, right-hemispheric ischaemic stroke who received an MRI and neglect testing within 48 h of acute infarct in a cross-sectional study. The volume of infarct was calculated on diffusion-weighted imaging. We also scored severity and location of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery hyperintense vessels in six areas (anterior cerebral artery territory, posterior cerebral artery territory and four within the middle cerebral artery territory) to estimate the volume and location of hypoperfusion in acute stroke. Neglect tests included gap detection, scene copy, line bisection, line cancellation, oral reading and picture description. We found strong correlations between tests that evaluated viewer-centred processing, as well as strong correlations between tests that evaluated stimulus-centred processing. The error rate on different tests was associated with hypoperfusion in different vascular territories, even after controlling for the volume of an infarct. Our results confirm that it is essential to administer a battery of different tests of hemispatial neglect to capture various deficits in attention and spatially specific processing that underlies neglect. Our results also show the potential usefulness of hyperintense vessel ratings as an indication of dysfunction beyond the infarct, as the ratings (and not infarct volume) were highly associated with many clinical deficits. Finally, results underscore that diverse types of neglect are clinically important in acute stroke, as they reflect different areas of hypoperfused tissue, which may be salvageable in the absence of infarct in those areas. As such, neglect batteries may be useful for detecting patients with cortical hypoperfusion who are candidates for reperfusion therapies.