A Rare Case of Foreign Accent Syndrome Secondary to Cardiac Arrest

Abstract

Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) is a rare and poorly understood condition in which a patient develops a change in intonation resulting in a new foreign accent. FAS is associated with a traumatic event, especially neurologic injury. The literature suggests FAS is commonly associated with cerebrovascular accidents, though other precipitating neurological conditions are documented. To our knowledge, there is no reported case of FAS associated with cardiac arrest. Here we report a case in which a patient local to Louisiana developed a change in speech resembling a Haitian accent secondary to cardiac arrest.