APHASIA AND INFARCTION OF THE POSTERIOR CEREBRAL-ARTERY TERRITORY

Spoken language disorders are rarely mentioned in superficial infarcti on of the posterior cerebral (PCA) territory. Two clinical types have been reported: transcortical sensory and amnesic aphasia. Between 1979 and 1990, we studied retrospectively 76 patients suffering from an oc cipitotemporal infarction located in the superficial territory of the posterior cerebral artery, all well documented by CT. Aphasia was one of the first and prominent signs in 18 cases. Middle cerebral artery c oncomitant infarction could have been the cause of language impairment in 10. In 8 patients aphasia was only explained by a PCA territory in farct. Three patients showed features of transcortical sensory aphasia . CT localization showed internal lobe and thalamic involvement of the dominant hemisphere. Five patients exhibited word finding impairment with various degrees of amnestic syndrome. The dominant internal tempo ral lobe was always affected. Dominant thalamus involvement was found in one case only. Some correlations between clinical features and anat omical support (vascular supply and anatomical structure) might be sug gested in our 8 cases of aphasic disorders due to PCA infarcts. They a re discussed and compared with data in the literature.