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Acquired Alexia With Agraphia Syndrome in Childhood

Department of Neurology Erasme University Hospital ULB Brussels, Belgium, ppaquier{at}ulb.ac.be, Department of Linguistics Free University of Brussels VUB Brussels, Belgium Unit of Neurosciences University of Antwerp UA Antwerp, Belgium

Hyo Jung De Smet, PhD

Department of Linguistics Free University of Brussels VUB Brussels, Belgium

Peter Mariën, PhD

Department of Linguistics Free University of Brussels VUB Brussels, Belgium, Department of Neurology ZNA - Middelheim General Hospital Laboratory of Neurochemistry and Behavior Born-Bunge Foundation University of Antwerp UA Antwerp, Belgium

Nathalie Poznanski, PhD

Department of Child Neurology Erasme University Hospital ULB Brussels, Belgium

Patrick Van Bogaert, PhD, MD

Department of Child Neurology Erasme University Hospital ULB Brussels, Belgium

The acquired alexia with agraphia syndrome is a conspicuous disorder of reading and writing in the absence of significant other language impairments that has mainly been recorded in adults. Pure cases are rare, with most patients displaying mild aphasic deficits. In children, acquired reading and writing disorders are generally reported as part of more encompassing aphasic syndromes affecting oral and written language equally, for example, Broca or Wernicke aphasia. Documented instances of predominant acquired reading and writing disorders in childhood are exceptional. We report an 11-year-old, right-handed boy who sustained a left temporoparieto-occipital hematoma following rupture of an arteriovenous malformation and who consecutively presented with the acquired alexia with agraphia syndrome associated with word-finding difficulties. Neuropsychologic and neurolinguistic data showed that there was no concomitant Gerstmann and/or angular gyrus syndrome. The recovery from the anomia was quite favorable, but recovery of written language was more protracted and acted on the patient's further scholastic achievement. This case is reminiscent of a historical childhood case reported in 1939 and is consonant with adult cases in terms of lesion location and semiologic picture. (J Child Neurol 2006;21:324—330; DOI 10.2310/7010.2006.00087).

Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 21, No. 4, 324-330 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/08830738060210042101


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