INTERHEMISPHERIC DECONNECTION - BALINTS-S YNDROME AND PERSISTANT ANARTHRIA, MARCHIAFAVA-BIGNAMI DISEASE WITH WHITE-MATTER HEMORRHAGE

A 37-year-old alcoholic right-handed man da eloped a complex neuropsyc hological picture following a mild head injury and a severe confusiona l state. Prominent features were Balint's syndrome, signs of interhemi spheric deconnection, and speech disorders with anarthria and dysproso dy. Iterative CT scans showed pathognomonic hypodensities of the ge,lu and splenium of corpus callosum, confirmative of Machiafava-Bignami d isease. After a two years follow-up, a favorable outcome was observed despite haemmoragic transformation of bilateral necrotic lesions of th e parietal white matter, an exceptional neuropathological fact. This c ase is demonstrative of the possibility of articulate speech impairmen t when lesions of both corpus callosum and subcortical white matter ar e present. It also raises several aetiopathogenic problems which are d iscussed.