Incidence and Clinical Phenomenology of Aphasic Disorders After Stroke

Ensala Brkić, Osman Sinanović, Mirjana Vidović, Dževdet Smajlović

Abstract
Introduction: Aphasia is a common and serious condition, associated with all forms of cerebrovascular disease. Capability of speech is one of the most important characteristics of human kind, it is logical that the recovery from a disease as serious as cerebrovascular insult (CVI) is by no means complete without the satisfactory recovery of the speech. Basic goal of the study was to analyze the incidence and clinical phenomenology of aphasic disorders after CVI. Patients and methods: We retrospectively analyzed 993 patients with CVI hospitalized in Neurology Clinic in Tuzla in the period from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004. All the patients were tested for aphasia by the International aphasia test. Results and conclusion: Obtained data showed that the incidence of aphasia was 20,34%, and that aphasic disorders were significantly more common in female patients. The most frequent type of aphasia was global (48,51%), then Broca’s (23,26%), and Wernicke’s (8,41). Transcortical sensory, transcortical motor and conductive aphasia were diagnosed in small number of patients in acute phase of CVI. Aphasia was more frequently seen in patients with hemorrhagic stroke (28,14%), compared to the ones with the ischemic stroke (20,58%), but the difference is not statistically significant. In patients with subarachnoidal hemorrhage aphasic disorders were not present in any patient.

Key words: aphasia, incidence and clinical phenomenology.