摘要
After a stroke, the recovery of balance may be considered a critical component of the motor behavior for achieving autonomy in activity of daily living. The balance deficiency encountered by hemiplegic patients has been extensively reviewed in this paper, from both clinical and scientific points of view. Postural control is organized to build up and update the body orientation (posture) and ensure that balance is maintained. This complex function is based on four components: reference frames for organizing posture and/or movement toward given target, multisensory inputs regulating orientation and stabilization of body segments, postural reactions or anticipations for balance recovery after disturbance, postural stabilization during voluntary movements. In the light of recent works concerning hemiplegic patients, some characteristics are emerging in each of these four fields. In the present paper, special attention was given to head and trunk orientation, sitting posture, dynamic equilibrium, and retraining balance and recovery after a cerebrovascular accident. The authors have made an attempt to clarify the causes of balance impairment in hemiplegic patients, based on the new trends in the topic.