title: Cognitive and behavioral deficits following bilateral thalamic stroke: a longitudinal study.
abstract: We describe behavioral and neuropsychological outcome of a patient (N.S.), who showed a bilateral paramedian thalamic ischemic lesion, with particular reference to the longitudinal evolution of topographical disorientation (TD) and confabulations. We report clinical neuropsychological/behavioral data over a 43-month follow-up. The results show early after the stroke a severe amnesic-confabulatory syndrome with dysexecutive deficits, associated with memory disorders both for visuo-spatial and verbal materials and TD both for known and new places. Behavioral disinhibition and anosognosia for cognitive deficits were also observed. All cognitive impairments have been recovered during the long-term follow-up. Bilateral paramedian thalamic infarcts often lead to severe and long-lasting neurological and cognitive impairments. Only a few cases showed good recovery. Our patient represents an interesting and uncommon case of bilateral paramedian thalamic syndrome with a significant neuropsychological recovery.
authors: a Department of Human and Social Sciences , University of Bergamo , Bergamo , Italy.
authors: Maria Luisa
authors: ML
authors: Rusconi
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Carelli
authors: Chiara
authors: C
authors: Stampatori
authors: Flavia
authors: F
authors: Mattioli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000377:Agnosia / Q000209:etiology*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000150:complications; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Amnesic-confabulatory syndrome; Bilateral thalamic stroke; Cognitive recovery; Dysexecutive deficit; Topographical disorientation