[Hypophonia in lacunar stroke]

Hypophonia has been defined as a reduction in speech volume. It is an uncommon finding in acute stroke, mainly related to multiple deep infarcts.

An 82 year old hypertensive woman was admitted to our hospital presenting acute right sided weakness and low speech volume. She was hypophonic and unable to yell. Language was fluent without paraphasic errors. A diffusion weighted magnetic resonance showed a small hyperintense lesion in the left corona radiata. No other lesions were detected.

Although, the precise anatomic area involved in the brain has not been clearly precised yet, hypophonia may be also due to isolated lacunar affecting the penetrating arteries in the corona radiata. Further studies are necessary to better understand the nature and the prognosis of this phenomenon.