Cortical deafness: demonstration of the pathologic anatomy by CT scan

A 27-year-old man with a prosthetic mitral valve had bilateral cerebral infarcts that caused a nonfluent aphasia, oral apraxia, and deafness. A computer-assisted tomographic scan showed symmetrical bilateral temporoparietal lesions. A review of the literature on other cases of cortical auditory deficits suggests that the clinical syndrome of pure word deafness in many cases is probably a less severe form of cortical deafness and is due to less extensive bilateral temporal gray matter lesions. However, strictly white matter lesions may produce some cases of either syndrome.