Aphasia secondary to tuberculosis: a review of a nineteenth-century case report by Booth and Curtis (1893).

The topic of aphasia secondary to tuberculosis deserves attention for two reasons: first, for better understanding rare etiologies of aphasia in medical history; and secondly, for initiating a multidisciplinary discussion relevant to aphasiologists, neurologists, pathologists, and clinicians generally. This article will focus on clinical observations of tuberculosis-related aphasia in the nineteenth century, highlighting a noteworthy case report presented by Booth and Curtis (1893).

A historical case of disseminated chronic tuberculosis.

A British author has put forward a new explanation for Joan of Arc's behaviour. This author suggests that the voices Joan of Arc heard were due to the presence of a temporal lobe tuberculoma in the context of widespread chronic tuberculosis (exposure to bovine tuberculosis, amenorrhoea, heart and intestines incombustible). We consider that some elements are incompatible with widespread tuberculosis. It is difficult to draw final conclusions, but it would seem unlikely that widespread tuberculosis, a serious disease, was present in this 'patient' whose life-style and activities would surely have been impossible had such a serious disease been present.