Long-Term Follow-up of Ideomotor Apraxia

Abstract

There has been little research on recovery from ideomotor apraxia (IMA). We undertook a long-term follow-up study in a group of ideomotor apraxic patients (n = 44). The duration of follow-up ranged from 1.5 years to 7.2 years. The patients' ability to imitate gestures was evaluated three times (1.6 months, 9.4 months, and 27.9 months mean time post-onset). All but one patient made an important recovery from IMA in the period between the first and second examinations. Subsequently, very few of the patients showed further recovery and six patients worsened. In three cases deterioration was global, while in three it was confined to IMA. The performance of patients with anterior (n = 6) and posterior (n = 8) lesions was also compared. At all three examinations, patients with anterior lesions had more severe apraxia however, the degree of recovery was not significantly different in the two groups.