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Table 3 Overview of studies investigating rTMS in supporting gait, balance and/or lower limb motor function in stroke patients

From: Non-invasive brain stimulation for improving gait, balance, and lower limbs motor function in stroke

References

Participants number, gender, age/time since stroke

Stroke etiology/location/affected hemisphere

Stimulation parameters, stimulated area

Study design/rTMS positioning technique

Number and duration of sessions/evaluations schedule

Outcomes

Sasaki et al. [67]

13 males, 8 females/11 ± 7 days

11 ischemic, 10 hemorrhagic/na/9 right, 12 left

(1) 10 Hz bilateral rTMS (1000 pulses, 90% rMT, double-cone coil) over leg M1

Parallel groups (11 + 10)/TMS

5 sessions à 10 min/pre, post

BRS

(2) sham rTMS (sham coil)

Kim et al. [63]

17 males, 15 females/16 ± 9 days

32 ischemic/9 subcortical, 23 brain stem/na

(1) 1 Hz unilateral rTMS (900 pulses, 100% rMT, figure-of-eight coil) over contralesional cerebellum

Parallel groups (22 + 10)/10–20 EEG system

5 sessions à 15 min/pre, post, one month follow up

10MWT, BBS

(2) sham rTMS (perpendicular coil positioning)

Huang et al. [62]

23 males, 15 females/29 ± 22 days

25 ischemic, 13 hemorrhagic/28 subcortical, 10 cortical/17 right, 21 left

(1) 1 Hz unilateral rTMS (900 pulses, 120% rMT, double-cone coil) over contralesional musculus rectus femoris M1

Parallel groups (18 + 20)/TMS

13 sessions à 15 min/pre, post, three months follow up

TUG, PASS, FMA-LE

(2) sham rTMS (sham coil)

Lin et al. [65]

17 males, 3 females/13 ± 7 months

16 ischemic, 4 hemorrhagic/9 right, 11 left

(1) iTBS bilateral (1200 pulses, 100% rMT, figure-of-eight coil) over musculus rectus femoris M1

Parallel groups (10 + 10)/TMS

10 sessions à 7 min/pre, post

BBS, TUG, 10MWT, FMA-LE

(2) sham rTMS (sham coil)

Koch et al. [64]

21 males, 13 females/13 ± 17 months

34 ischemic/17 subcortical, 17 cortical/20 right, 14 left

(1) iTBS unilateral (1200 pulses, 80% aMT, figure-of-eight coil) over contralesional lateral cerebellum

Parallel groups (17 + 17)/neuronavigation

15 sessions à 10 min/pre, post, three weeks follow up

BBS

(2) sham iTBS (na)

Chiefflo et al. [61]

na/61 ± 10 years/20 ± 7 months

5 ischemic, 4 hemorrhagic/9 subcortical/5 right, 4 left

(1) 20 Hz bilateral rTMS (1500 pulses, 90% rMT, H12-coil) over leg M1

Crossover (9–9)/TMS

2 × 11 sessions à 30 min/pre1, post1, four weeks follow up1, pre2, post2, four weeks follow up2

FMA-LE, 10MWT, 6MWT

(2) sham rTMS (sham coil)

Wang et al. [20]

15 males, 9 females/23 ± 14 months

na/na/14 right, 10 left

(1) 1 Hz rTMS unilateral (600 pulses, 90% rMT, figure-of-eight coil) over contralesional musculus rectus femoris M1

Parallel groups (14 + 14)/TMS

10 sessions à 10 min/pre, post

FMA-LE, gait analysis (speed, cadence, step length, support time, asymmetry)

(2) sham rTMS (perpendicular coil positioning)

Rastgoo et al. [66]

16 males, 4 females/29 ± 19 months

15 ischemic, 5 hemorrhagic/15 subcortical, 5 cortical/13 right, 7 left

(1) 1 Hz rTMS unilateral (1000 pulses, 90% rMT, figure-of-eight coil) over contralesional leg M1

Crossover (10–10)/TMS

2 × 5 sessions à 17 min/pre1, post1, one weeks follow up1, pre2, post2, one weeks follow up2

TUG, FMA-LE

(2) sham rTMS (sham coil)

Wang et al. [68]

11 males, 3 females/29 ± 20 months

6 ischemic, 8 hemorrhagic/na/8 right, 6 left

(1) 5 Hz rTMS unilateral (900 pulses, 90% rMT, figure-of-eight coil) over ipsilesional musculus tibialis anterior M1

Parallel groups (8 + 6)/TMS

9 sessions à 15 min/pre, post, one month follow up

FMA-LE, gait analysis (speed, asymmetry)

(2) sham rTMS (perpendicular coil positioning)

  1. BBS   Berg Balance Scale, BRS   Brunnstrom Recovery Stages, EEG   electroencephalography, FMA-LE   Fugl-Meyer Assessment—Lower Extremity, Hz   hertz, iTBS   intermittent theta burst stimulation, M1   primary motor cortex, min   minute, na   not applicable/not available, PASS   Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients, rMT   resting motor threshold, (r)TMS   (repetitive) transcranial magnetic stimulation, TUG   Timed Up and Go Test, 6MWT   Six-Minute Walk Test, 10MWT   10-Meter Walking Test