[Aphasia arising from left thalamic haemorrhage].

A patient, aged 58, with sudden loss of speech and right-sided haemiparesis is described. CT brain showed intracerebral haemorrhage in the left thalamus. The examination of speech functions established aphasia characterized by anomia, comprehension disorders, paraphasia, perseveration, reduction of spontaneous speech, dyslexia and agraphia. Relation between thalamic aphasia and cortical aphasic syndromes is discussed. The obtained results are in agreement with the theory that emphasizes a specific role of thalamus in verbal communication.