Wernicke's aphasia; fluent aphasia; garbled speech

Etiology

• cerebral ischemia
  • in the distribution of the lower division of the middle cerebral artery
  • stroke vs transient ischemic attack
• Herpes simplex encephalitis
• brain tumor

Pathology

• lesion of the posterior perisylvian structures of the parietal & temporal lobes

Clinical manifestations

• fluent speech
• total incomprehension of spoken speech
• inability to read or repeat sounds or words
• alexia
• agraphia
• paraphasia is common
• associated manifestations
  • parietal lobe sensory deficits
  • hemianopsia
  • no motor disturbance
• anomia, word-finding difficulty (dysnomia) Special laboatory:
  • if acute, transient
    • electrocardiogram
    • carotid ultrasound

Radiology

• consider neuroimaging
• consider CT angiography of head & neck

More general terms

• aphasia

Additional terms

• paraphasia