2013, Number 2
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Rev Mex Neuroci 2013; 14 (2)
Prosopagnosia as a manifestation of cerebrovascular disease: Case report and literature review
Canché-Arenas A, Ogando-Elizondo E, Violante-Villanueva A
Language: Spanish
References: 9
Page: 94-97
PDF size: 833.10 Kb.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Recognizing individual faces is of vital
importance to humans, in the social and survival aspects.
Prosopagnosia, the name that is used to denote a defect
in the recognition of familiar faces, is an early
manifestation of various neurological diseases. It is an
uncommon presentation that can manifest entities like
migraine, neoplastic or cerebrovascular disease. Its
importance lies in the high value as a localization sign.
Objectives: The purpose of our paper is to present
prosopagnosia as an incompletely studied entity, as a
consequence of cerebrovascular disease, and that it is
misdiagnosed as psychiatric illness in the elderly.
Case
report: We present the case of a woman with a history of
heavy smoking and late-onset epilepsy due to
neurocysticercosis, without seizures in the current
condition, that begins with memory errors, such as referral
of family members who have not come to see her and
not recognizing close family or home, accompanied by
marked anxiety and aggressiveness. The patient received
a diagnosis of dementia for a long time until his case
was re-evaluated by a neurology service and it was
identified prosopagnosia as the sole manifestation of
chronic stroke, with clinical and radiological
correspondence.
Conclusions: Prosopagnosia may be the
only clinical presentation of cerebrovascular disease. The
lack of recognition of this clinical characteristic can lead
to errors in diagnosis
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