Frontal lobe dysfunction in unilateral lenticulostriate infarcts. Prominent role of cortical lesions
O. Godefroy, M. Rousseaux, D. Leys, A. Destee, P. Scheltens and J. P. Pruvo
Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Lille, France.
Most studies on frontal lobe dysfunction (FLD) in patients with striatal
lesions did not consider possible associated cortical lesions not seen on
computed tomographic scans. To determine the possible role of such cortical
lesions, we assessed FLD in 10 patients with unilateral lenticulostriate
infarct on computed tomographic scans. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed
an associated cortical infarct not seen on computed tomographic scans in
four patients. Using a battery of neuropsychological tests sensitive to
FLD, we found that (1) the crossed tapping test was the only FLD test
significantly disturbed in patients with pure unilateral lenticulostriate
infarcts, (2) FLD was only present in patients with associated cortical
infarct, and (3) caudate lesions only account for the number of echopraxic
errors in the crossed tapping test. We conclude that unilateral isolated
lenticulostriate infarcts might not lead to FLD, even though they may
disturb the development of strategies involved in motor procedural
learning.
