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Verbal auditory agnosia with focal EEG abnormality: an unusual case of a child presenting to an ENT surgeon with “deafness”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Uday Kale ,
Mohamed El-Naggar  and
Maurice Hawthorne
Uday Kale
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, North Riding Infirmary, Middlesbrough, Cleveland.
Mohamed El-Naggar
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, North Riding Infirmary, Middlesbrough, Cleveland.
Maurice Hawthorne*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, North Riding Infirmary, Middlesbrough, Cleveland.
*
Address for correspondence: Mr Maurice Hawthorne, F.R.C.S., Department of Otolaryngology, North Riding Infirmary, Newport Road, Middlesbrough, Cleveland TSI 5JE.
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Abstract

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Verbal auditory agnosia implies the failure to recognize sounds in a patient who is nevertheless not deaf. We present a child referred to the ENT outpatients for suspected hearing loss investigation. At one point she had grommets inserted on the basis of a flat tympanogram but with no effect. All hearing tests, including electrocochleography and distraction tests, revealed normal hearing thresholds. At the age of three years and three months, and on direct questioning of the parents, we discovered that the child responded remarkably well to music. Paediatric neurologists made the diagnosis of verbal auditory agnosia. The condition is very similar to another acquired language disorder called Landau-Kleffner syndrome. It is unusual for such a case to present primarily to an ENT surgeon.

Keywords

Agnosiaverbalauditory
Type
Clinical Records
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 109 , Issue 5 , May 1995 , pp. 431 - 432
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1995

Footnotes

This paper was presented at the North of England Neurology Association (N.E.N.A.) meeting held at Middlesbrough, April 1994.

References

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