Transcortical sensory aphasia following the unilateral left thalamic infarction— A case report

We reported a 60-year old right handed woman who had transcortical sensory aphasia caused by left thalamic cerebral infarction. She had a mild right hemiparesis involving the face, with hyperactive tendon reflexes. Tactile and pain sensations were decreased in the right side involving the face without visual field defect. Spontaneous speech was remarkably reduced, and she had a remarkable disturbance in object naming. Her auditory comprehension and writing were severely disturbed. This contrasted with full preservation of repetition of words and short sentences (5 $ ̃ 6 words). A CT scan 3 days later showed an infarct in the left ventral region of the thalamus. In the CBF (cerebral blood flow) study, 123I-IMP SPECT (single photon emission CT) showed a low flow in the left temporal and occipital lobes. We concluded that there might be thalamic aphasia caused by an occlusion of the left posterior communicating artery directly affecting the area served by left posterior cerebral artery.