In this exploratory single-center cross-sectional study of 80 stroke patients, broad lesion-location categories were associated with peak inspiratory flow (PIF), with higher PIF in the basal ganglia region than in the brainstem, but the findings remain exploratory and cannot fully separate anatomical associations from stroke severity, disability, unmeasured clinical factors, or measurement limitations.
Among seven respiratory outcomes, only peak inspiratory flow (PIF) retained an unadjusted association with lesion-location group after Holm correction.
The adjusted overall lesion-location association with PIF survived multiplicity correction.
PIF was higher in the basal ganglia group than in the brainstem group.
The basal ganglia versus brainstem PIF contrast weakened in the first-ever stroke subgroup and with modified Barthel Index (MBI) adjustment.
The study combined data from two sources and is exploratory, with limits on causal and anatomical interpretation.
This study looked at whether the part of the brain damaged by a stroke is linked to how well a person can breathe in. It included 80 stroke patients grouped by where the stroke occurred: the frontal lobe, the basal ganglia region, or the brainstem. The researchers measured several breathing outcomes, including how fast a person can inhale (peak inspiratory flow) and inspiratory muscle strength. Of the seven breathing measures, only peak inspiratory flow clearly differed by lesion location after statistical correction for multiple comparisons. People with strokes in the basal ganglia region had about 0.6 L/s higher peak inspiratory flow than those with brainstem strokes. This held up after accounting for several clinical factors and in ischemic stroke patients. However, the difference became less certain when only first-ever strokes were analyzed or when the patients' level of daily-living disability was taken into account. This research suggests that where a stroke occurs may relate to how quickly a person can inhale, but the study cannot show that location causes the difference. It was a small, exploratory study at one center, and factors such as stroke severity, disability, and other unmeasured conditions could play a role. Larger studies would be needed to confirm the findings.
Kuo H, Liu G, Zhong Z, Liu B, Zhang X, Shi M. (2026). Stroke Lesion Location Is Associated with Dynamic Inspiratory Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study.. Advances in respiratory medicine. https://doi.org/10.3390/arm94050076