Prolonged posteclamptic aphasia; report of a case.

Abstract

A CASE OF posteclamptic aphasia of seven years' duration is reported. This is the longest survival period on record, and the case is the only one in which improvement beyond a vegetative level has been reported. REPORT OF CASE History.— W. G., a white woman aged 24, was admitted to the psychiatric division of the Illinois Neuropsychiatric Institute on April 10, 1950, for study and evaluation. She had been brought to the outpatient clinic for a routine check. Her present condition dated from the birth of her only child, seven years before. When she was seen in the fifth month of pregnancy the family physician noted considerable ankle edema. There were no other abnormal findings at that time; the blood pressure was 120/75, and the urine contained no albumin. A day or so before the baby's birth the patient began to have convulsions. There is no record of blood pressure