Acquired epileptic aphasia (the Landau-Kleffner syndrome) due to neurocysticercosis.
A healthy 7-year-old boy developed a language disorder associated with clinical seizures and a paroxysmal EEG. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a small cysticercus deep in the left Sylvian fissure. We postulate a cause and effect relationship between the parasitic cyst and the clinical manifestations supported by the strategic location of the cyst and the critical age at which this lesion developed. This case provides evidence that the syndrome of acquired epileptic aphasia may be explained in terms of an unilateral structural brain lesion.
Otero
E
E
Division de Neurologia, Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia, Mexico, D.F.
Cordova
S
S
Diaz
F
F
Garcia-Teruel
I
I
Del Brutto
O H
OH
D001037:Aphasia / Q000209:etiology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology; D002648:Child; D003551:Cysticercosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013346:Subarachnoid Space; D013577:Syndrome; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000469:parasitology*