Case 42 Answers

1. What is the term describing this patient’s difficulty with writing?

Dysgraphia

2. What is the term describing the patient’s difficulty with calculations?

Dyscalculia

3. What is the term describing the patient’s failure to recognize body parts (including fingers)?

Finger agnosia (or Asomatognosia)

4. What is the term describing the patient’s difficulty naming objects?

Anomia or dysnomia

5. The findings in this case represent a classic neurologic syndrome. What is the name of that syndrome? Damage to what area(s) of the brain gives rise to this syndrome? Indicate the side of the lesion.

Gerstmann’s Syndrome (acalculia, dysgraphia, finger agnosia,
left/right confusion).
Left angular gyrus.

6. How would you characterize this patient's language dysfunction? Damage to what area of the brain typically gives rise to this type of language dysfunction? Indicate the side of the brain involved.

Fluent aphasia – Anomic aphasia.
Anomic aphasia may be caused by lesions in many areas surrounding the major nodes of the left hemisphere language network. In this case, the lesion was in the left angular gyrus (area 39).

7. In general, what type of pathologic process was involved in this case?

Vascular. Occlusion of a cortical branch of the left middle cerebral artery.

8. What diagnostic procedure(s) would you undertake at this point?

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