Global Aphasia Secondary to Bilateral Thalamic Hyperintensities Post-cardiac Arrest

TL;DR

A rare case of global aphasia caused by bilateral thalamic damage following cardiac arrest is presented, highlighting its unusual severity and limited recovery.

Contribution

This paper reports a rare case of global aphasia following bilateral thalamic injury post-cardiac arrest.

Findings

Global aphasia can result from bilateral thalamic damage post-cardiac arrest.

Global thalamic aphasia has a more guarded prognosis with limited recovery months after injury.

Abstract

Thalamic aphasia is thought to occur secondary to disruptions in the cortico-subcortical connections. Although rare, thalamic aphasia is a well-known phenomenon that usually presents with primarily lexical-semantic deficits with preservation of comprehension and repetition. Global aphasia secondary to thalamic injury is extremely rare, with only a few case reports of patients with left thalamic hemorrhages. The prognosis for thalamic aphasia is generally good, with most patients showing little to no symptoms after days or weeks. However, global thalamic aphasia carries a more guarded prognosis with limited recovery months after injury. Here, we report a case of global thalamic aphasia secondary to bilateral thalamic damage post-cardiac arrest.

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