The Relationship between Frontal Lobe Lesions, Course of Post-Stroke Depression, and 1-year Prognosis in Patients with First-Ever Ischemic Stroke

Most studies on post-stroke depression (PSD) have focused on a certain time point after stroke instead of the time course of PSD. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between frontal lobe lesions, course of PSD over a year following the stroke onset, and the 1-year prognosis in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke.A total of 1067 patients from the prospective cohort study on the incidence and outcome of patients with post stroke depression in China who were diagnosed with first-ever ischemic stroke and attended 4 follow-up visits at 14±2 days, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after stroke onset, were enrolled in the study. PSD was diagnosed according to DSM-IV. The course of PSD was divided into the following two categories: persistent/recurrent depression and no/transient depression. Patients with any ischemic lesion responsible for the indexed stroke event located in the frontal lobe were defined as patients with frontal lobe lesions. Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) ≥2 at 1-year was considered to be poor prognosis. = 0.021). Compared with no/transient depression, persistent/recurrent depression was found to be an independent predictor of poor prognosis at 1-year both in FL and NFL groups.Long-term and periodical screening, evaluation and treatment are needed for PSD after the onset of ischemic stroke, particularly for patients with frontal lobe infarction