Two Cases of Callosal Disconnection Syndrome: Impaired Body Cognition of Nondominant Limbs

J Korean Neurol Assoc > Volume 18(5); 2000 > Article

Journal of the Korean Neurological Association 2000;18(5): 650-653.

뇌량단절증후군 2예:열성 상지 및 하지의 신체인식장애

김태일, 김성제 ·배준석 ·서상일 ·김지언 ·이동국

대구가톨릭대학교 의과대학 신경과학교실

Two Cases of Callosal Disconnection Syndrome: Impaired Body Cognition of Nondominant Limbs

Tae Il Kim, M.D., Sung Je Kim, M.D., Jun Seok Bae, M.D., Sang Il Seo, M.D., Ji Eun Kim, M.D., Dong Kuck Lee, M.D.

Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu

Abstract

Callosal disconnection results in the functional independence of each hemisphere and usually produces characteristic signs including alien hand, left-sided apraxia, left agraphia and left tactile anomia. Our two patients; a 75-year-old right-handed woman with hypertension and a 71-year-old right-handed woman with diabetes mellitus, showed impairments in the identification of body parts with their left hands in addition to characteristic symptoms such as left ideomotor apraxia, agraphia, tactile anomia, and right alien hand signs with groping and grasping. Brain MRIs of these patients upon admission demonstrated infarcts in the medial portion of the left frontal lobes and in the corpus callosum supplied by the left anterior cerebral artery. The impairment of body parts cognition in our patients can be attributed to the failure of the patient’s left hand to communicate with the body schema stored in the left hemisphere. J Korean Neurol Assoc 18(5):650~653, 2000 Key Words : Callosal disconnection syndrome, Alien hand sign, Body schema, Body part identification