Dystypia in acute stroke not attributable to aphasia or neglect

• Published in: BMJ case reports Vol. 2013; p. bcr2013200257
• Main Authors: Cook, Fabian Alexander Blyth, Makin, Stephen D J, Wardlaw, Joanna, Dennis, Martin S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group LTD 17-09-2013; BMJ Publishing Group
• Series: Case Report
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Aged; Agraphia; Cerebral Infarction - complications; Cerebral Infarction - pathology; Handwriting; Humans; Language Disorders - etiology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Memory; Parkinson's disease; Patients; Phonetics; Reading; Semantics; Stroke; United Kingdom; Unusual Association of Diseases/Symptoms; White; Writing
• ISSN: 1757-790X; 1757-790X
• DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2013-200257

A 68-year-old right-handed man had a sudden onset of impaired typing ability due to an ischaemic stroke that recovered over 2 months. The typing impairment was grossly out of proportion to his transient handwriting disturbance. Diffusion MRI showed a recent acute left temporoparietal infarct. There was no evidence of aphasia, alexia, agraphia, visuospatial inattention, sensory loss, neglect or poor coordination that could account for his isolated typing impairment. This example of a stroke that disproportionately affected typing more than handwriting abilities has practical implications for what deficits to look for in patients with stroke when assessing their fitness for work and rehabilitation requirements.