A Case of Crossed Aphasia in a Dextral

Crossed aphasia refers to disturbances of language following a purely right-hemisphere lesion in right-handed individuals. In right-handed individuals, aphasia is almost invariably related to a left cerebral lesion and crossed aphasia occurs in only 1 percent who developed a sudden left hemiparesis with global aphasia. He has neither family history of left-handedness or ambidexterity. Brain MRI showed an acute large infarct of the middle cerebral artery territory on the right side and brain SPECT disclosed extensive areas of hypoperfusion in the right hemisphere and no abnormal finding in the left hemisphere. The sensory component of language function was almost improved, but the motor component has been changed. Further studies of crossed aphasia may supply more data on the functional organization of the brain for speech and language.

Ansan Citizen's Knowledge of Stroke

BACKGROUND: The awareness and knowledge of stroke among general population has been poorly estimated in our country. METHODS: Well-trained personnel asked to randomly selected 985 residents in Ansan City with questionnaire concerning stroke. The results of questionnaire were analyzed in terms of demographic factors. RESULTS: Only 55.4% of the subjects answered that stroke is cerebrovascular disease. As risk factors of stroke, hypertension (70.4%) and mental stress (59.7%) were considered to be important. But the risk of cigarette smoking(18.7%), diabetes mellitus(14.5%), and heart disease(14.5%) were underappreciated. This awareness pattern did not show no statistical significance between those with and without risk factors(p>0.05). The more than half of subjects(65.2%) chose western medicine and 26.8% of subjects chose oriental medicine for the treatment of stroke. Forty four percent of the subjects perceived motor paralysis as a primary symptom of stroke. Broadcasting was the most important source of information about stroke. CONCLUSIONS: The misinformation about stroke is common among general population in Ansan City. To provide proper management for stroke by neurologists, public health education should be focused especially on those who have risk factors and are the elderly and less educated. Because primary physician play a crucial role in spreading information about stroke, special education program for them is needed.