Apraxic agraphia due to thalamic infarction.
The authors report a patient of pure apraxic agraphia with normal praxis due to left thalamic infarction. 15O-gas-PET showed reduced oxygen metabolism in the left thalamus and the left dorsolateral premotor area, while MRI and 11C-fulumazenil-PET showed no remarkable lesions in the frontal cortex. The patient's word imaging remained normal. The authors hypothesize that thalamic destruction causes pure apraxic agraphia by exerting a remote effect on left dorsolateral premotor area and blocking somewhere between graphemic area and motor programming.
Ohno
T
T
Department of Neurology, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital, Japan. ttakae-tky@umin.ac.jp
Bando
M
M
Nagura
H
H
Ishii
K
K
Yamanouchi
H
H
D000368:Aged; D000381:Agraphia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D020645:Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013786:Thalamic Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed