Paradoxical recovery in a bilingual patient with aphasia after right capsuloputaminal infarction

• Published in: Journal of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry neurosurgery and psychiatry, 2007-01, Vol.78 (1), p.89-91
• Main Authors: García-Caballero, A, García-Lado, I, González-Hermida, J, Area, R, Recimil, M J, Juncos Rabadán, O, Lamas, S, Ozaita, G, Jorge, F J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ACE; Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aphasia; Aphasia - etiology; Bilingualism; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - pathology; Cerebral Infarction - complications; Dementia; Female; Humans; Ischemia; Language; Learning curves; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical sciences; Memory; mother tongue; Multilingualism; Multiple sclerosis and variants. Guillain barré syndrome and other inflammatory polyneuropathies. Leukoencephalitis; Neurology; Neuropsychology; Religious literature; Remission, Spontaneous; second language; Short Report; Speaking; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system
• ISSN: 0022-3050; 1468-330X
• DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.2006.095406

We report the case of a bilingual dextral patient, who presented with an uncommon pattern of aphasic deficit following a right capsulo-putaminal infarction. In this patient, the linguistic deficit concerned the use of her mother tongue (Galician, L1) much more than the lesser practised second language (Spanish, L2). Our patient presented spontaneous fluent speech in L2 but not in L1, automatic translation into L2, and impaired repetition in L1, whereas comprehension was spared in both L1 and L2. Reading and writing were less valuable due to educational interference (reduced schooling). Spontaneous speech 16 months after the stroke showed the stability of the impairment. This is the first reporting of a crossed subcortical aphasia in a bilingual patient.