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Post-stroke Rehabilitation of an African Woman

Patient Presents

Sylvia is a 33-year-old South African woman who lives in a township in Cape Town. She had a stroke 18 months before. She described that she fell down while cleaning the house. Her relatives found her unconscious and rushed her to a physician where she was diagnosed with a dense left hemiplegia resulting from an infarct in the right basal ganglia. Eighteen months after the incident she is still unable to use her left arm. She was left-handed before the incident. Her grandmother helps her with dressing and grooming. Her left leg is mildly affected and she walks with a limp, yet she walks in the house without a walking aid.