Pathological left-handedness and preserved function associated with a slowly evolving brain tumor.
The authors report the serial neuropsychological evaluations of a patient with acquired left-handedness who had a massive brain tumor that infiltrated the entire temporal and posterior parietal lobes of the left hemisphere. Although the patient had pre-operative impairment of non-verbal memory, follow-up assessment 31 and 66 months after the tumor was resected revealed cognitive functions to be in the high-average to superior range. This case demonstrates the sparing of neuropsychological functions that can be seen with a slowly evolving lesion. The authors suggest that such functional sparing may be due to transfer of function rather than to the residual function of tumor-infiltrated neuronal tissue. Possible mediators of functional preservation include slow lesion growth, the patient's youth at disease onset and the large size of the lesion.
Meyers
C A
CA
Department of Neuro-Oncology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030.
Berman
S A
SA
Hayman
A
A
Evankovich
K
K
D000328:Adult; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed