To the Editor. —
There is little information available concerning the long-term prognosis of so-called pure word blindness. Readers may be interested in the performance of two patients with acquired "agnosic dyslexia" ten and eight years after diagnosis.
Both patients were described in the Archives to which interested readers may refer for clinical details.1,2 A deeply situated left occipital lobe hematoma (surgically removed) was the responsible lesion in one patient. The dyslexia in the second patient occurred with the surgical removal of an arteriovenous malformation involving the left lingual and fusiform gyri. Interference with blood supply and possible infarction in the territory of the left postcerebral artery were thought to be responsible.
The first patient's condition, at age 51 years (ten years later), is unimproved and indeed appears to perform less well. The reading of sentences composed of four- and five-letter words is a formidable task and serves only
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