Akinetic mutism following coal-gas poisoning with subsequent recovery.

Akinetic mutism following coal-gas poisoning with subsequent recovery.

Akinetic mutism--not coma.

We describe a case of akinetic mutism mistaken as coma. A 77-year old lady presented with apparent unresponsiveness. In fact she responded when stimulated. She subsequently developed movements typical of clonic perseveration, erroneously treated as seizures. She also had features of a frontal lobe syndrome. Initial CT scan showed no abnormality; it was only after an MRI scan that a diagnosis of...

Recovery of akinetic mutism and injured prefronto-caudate tract following shunt operation for hydrocephalus and rehabilitation

RATIONALE A 76-year-old female patient was diagnosed with an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage following rupture of a right posterior communicating artery aneurysm. PATIENT CONCERNS She was treated surgically with clipping of the aneurysmal neck. Six months after onset, when starting rehabilitation at our hospital, she showed no spontaneous movement or speech. DIAGNOSES:: aneurysmal subarach...

Akinetic mutism with bithalamic infarction. Neurophysiological correlates.

A 42-year-old man presented with akinetic mutism, caused by bilateral thalamic infarction, resulting in a temporary amnesic syndrome and, finally, selective downgaze palsy. Electroencephalographic recording in the initial phase showed generalized spike- and-wave discharges, similar to those found in animal studies after lesion or stimulation of specific thalamic nuclei. Analysis of magnetic res...

Akinetic mutism after right internal watershed infarction.

We describe a 72-year-old man who developed akinetic mutism following a cerebrovascular accident involving his right internal watershed area and responded well to dopaminergic agonists. We discuss this rare condition and the unusual unilateral location of the lesion.