Linguistic development in a patient with Landau-Kleffner syndrome: a nine-year follow-up.
A longitudinal linguistic analysis of aphasic disorder in a 15-year-old boy affected by Landau-Kleffner syndrome followed since the age of 6 is reported. The phonological, morphosyntactic and lexical levels of verbal deficits have been evaluated by means of collected samples of spontaneous language and a battery of linguistic tests. The clinical course has fluctuated with improvement and worsening of aphasia and epilepsy; at the end of the follow-up the boy was seizure-free and a medium-degree disturbance in language production and comprehension was present. The results of the linguistic evaluation suggest that the aphasic disturbance was related to a deficiency in phonological decoding which leads to phonological, morphosyntactic and lexical disturbances. A temporal relationship between the electroclinical picture and the aphasia has been observed: the persistent improvement in linguistic performances took place only after the disappearance of the seizures and of the EEG epileptic anomalies during sleep.
Zardini
G
G
Language Disorder Unit, Istituto Nazionale Neurologico C. Besta, Milan, Italy.
Molteni
B
B
Nardocci
N
N
Sarti
D
D
Avanzini
G
G
Granata
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D017668:Age of Onset; D001037:Aphasia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007807:Language Tests; D008037:Linguistics; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012890:Sleep; D013577:Syndrome; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D014851:Wakefulness
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone