Posterior alien hand syndrome: case report.
The alien hand syndrome (AHS) is involuntary uncontrolled movement of an arm with a sense of estrangement from the limb itself. AHS was initially used to describe interhemispheric disconnection phenomena in patients with lesions in the anterior corpus callosum, but it has been found in patients with posterior cerebral lesions without involvement of the corpus callosum, for example parietal infarcts or corticobasal degeneration. The posterior alien hand syndrome is less frequent and presents with nonpurposive behaviour like lifting the arm or writhing fingers. We report an 80-year-old woman with a posterior AHS of the dominant right hand. MRI showed atrophy of the pre- and postcentral gyri without involvement of the corpus callosum. We discuss the aetiology of the posterior AHS and the differences from the anterior varieties.
Rohde
S
S
Institute of Neuroradiology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Schleusenweg 2-16, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Stefan.Rohde@kgu.de
Weidauer
S
S
Lanfermann
H
H
Zanella
F
F
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D020820:Dyskinesias / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D013577:Syndrome