Aphasia after hemispherectomy in an adult with early onset epilepsy and hemiplegia
- 1Department of Neurology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- 2Department of Neuropsychology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- 3Department of Neuropathology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- 4Department of Neurosurgery, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- 5Department of Neuroradiology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- Correspondence to: Dr Tobias Loddenkemper Department of Epilepsy and Sleep Disorders, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Ave, S-51, Cleveland, 44195 OH, USA; loddentccf.org
- Received 22 January 2003
- Accepted 17 May 2003
- Revised 12 May 2003
Abstract
A 55 year old left handed man with left hemisphere subcortical encephalomalacia, seizures, language impairment, and right hemiparesis from a motor vehicle accident at age five was evaluated for epilepsy surgery. The patient continued to speak and followed commands during a left intracarotid amobarbital test (IAT). Left functional hemispherectomy resulted in expressive aphasia. Based on postoperative outcome, language was bilateral. The injury after primary development of language function, the predominantly subcortical lesion, and the late timing of surgical intervention well past development and plasticity may have been factors in the emergence of postoperative aphasia.
Footnotes
-
Competing interests: none declared
