ACQUIRED DYSFLUENCIES FOLLOWING INFARCTION OF THE LEFT MESIOFRONTAL CORTEX

The present study describes the acquired dysfluencies observed in a pa tient with transcortical motor aphasia (TCMA) following ischaemic infa rction of the mesiofrontal cortex due to occlusion of the anterior cer ebral artery. Prolongation of labial plosives and labiodental fricativ es as well as hesitations concomitant with a few repetitions of syllab les and sounds, respectively, were noted. The dorsolateral aspects of the frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere have been considered the r elevant site of lesion in instances of acquired stuttering concomitant with TCMA. The present case demonstrates that dysfluencies may be pre sent with mesiofrontal lesions as well. The patient's stuttering was c onfined to production of complex sentences. Since transcortical motor aphasia is characterized by paucity of speech, consisting mostly in on e- to two-word utterances, the dysfluencies of patients with this kind of disorder often might be masked. The observed stuttering-like behav iour differed in two respects from other reports on this disorder: the dysfluencies, first, were restricted to word-initial sounds and, seco ndly, did not occur during repetition tasks and reading aloud. Thus, a cquired stuttering due to mesiofrontal lesions might represent a speci fic constellation of dysfluencies.