Alexia without Agraphia-report of Five Cases and Review of Literature

Abstract

Alexia without agraphia (also called pure alexia or word blindness) was the first of the disconnection syndromes to be described. It results from the loss of visual input to the language area without involvement of the language area. The most common cause is occlusion of the left posterior cerebral artery with involvement of left occipital cortex and the splenium of corpus callosum. However, it can also be caused by any lesion affecting the splenium of corpus callosum disrupting the white matter tracts from the left visual cortex to the angular gyrus. We hereby describe five cases of alexia without agraphia, of which three are due to involvement of the left occipital cortex and splenium, and two are due to involvement of the splenium of corpus callosum alone.