[A case of splenial astrocytoma with various neuropsychological symptoms]

A case with splenial astrocytoma that showed various neuropsychological symptoms after disappearance of tumor due to chemo- and radiation therapies. A 40-year-old right-handed truck driver visited the Neurosurgical Clinic with complaints of memory disturbance and loosing his way during truck driving. Under diagnosis of protoplasmic astrocytoma chemotherapy and radiation treatments were carried out. These treatments were satisfactorily effective, but the patient showed marked memory deficits and personality change. He was hospitalized, therefore, into the Neuropsychiatric Clinic 20 months after the above mentioned treatments. Aside personality changes such as lack of inhibition and shameless acts, the patient showed interhemispheric disconnection symptoms (dyslexia in the left visual hemifield), memory deficits, and visual perceptual disturbances. His memory deficits consisted of anterograde and retrograde amnesia and disorientation of time and place, indicating that he had typical amnesic syndrome. In other words he had so-called retrosplenial amnesia. His visual perceptual deficits were impaired performance on many tasks already described as tests of visual perception.