Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Case Report

A case of aphasia with preserved repetition due to anterior choroidal artery territory infarction

Renpei Sengoku, M.D., Kenji Onouchi, M.D., Hironori Sato, M.D. and Kiyoharu Inoue, M.D.

Department of Neurology, The Jikei University School of Medicine

A 55-year-old right-handed male patient with atrial fibrillation was admitted to our hospital because of a sudden disturbance of consciousness and right hemiparesis. Neurological examinations revealed left conjugate deviation of the eyes, aphasia, right hemianopsia without macula sparing using a Goldmann perimeter, right hemianesthesia, and right hemiparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging showed low intensity areas (left posterior limb of internal capsule, left cerebral peduncle of middle brain, a part of left substantia nigra, left amygdala, ventral posterior lateral nucleus and ventral anterior nucleus of left thalamus, left lateral geniculate body, and left occipital lobe) in T1 weighted image, due to the infarct in the left anterior choroidal artery territory. Aphasia in this case was accompanied with non-fluent speech, good repetition, naming deficits, and perseveration. We suggest that aphasia with anterior choroidal artery syndrome cannot be classified using the conventional system, and emphasize the importance of accurate descriptions of the symptoms characteristic of aphasia with anterior choroidal artery.

(CLINICA NEUROL, 45: 735|739, 2005)
key words: anterior choroidal artery, cerebral infarction, mixed transcortical aphasia, repetition, SPECT

(Received: 20-Dec-04)