Functional disorganization of the left limbs in a tumour of the corpus callosum infiltrating the hemispheres.

Abstract

Tumours of the corpus callosum (C.c.) are known to be a difficult diagnostic problem. Intellectual and mental disturbances and rapid deterioration in the course of the illness have been observed in most of these cases and are considered by many authors to indicate an involvement of this body (Lévy-Valensi, 1910; Mingazzini, 1922; Ironside and Guttmacher, 1929; Alpers and Grant, 1931; Voris and Adson, 1935; Schlesinger, 1951, Bremer et al., 1956). However, a similar picture may also occur in tumours of other sites; moreover, tumours of the C.c. tend to infiltrate the hemispheres, particularly the cingulum and the frontal lobes, and this might well account for the mental picture. A sign which seems to be more specific for damage of the C.c. is dyspraxia restricted to the left limbs in right-handed persons. Although this dyspraxia has been reported only in a small minority of cases concerned, it has not been observed in lesions other than those of the C.c.