[Early right posterior cerebral hemispheric lesion and right speech dominance in 2 right-handed female patients].

Two female patients presented a severe partial epilepsy of early onset and an extended right posterior hemispheric lesion of prenatal or perinatal origin. They were right-handed and all their first degree relatives were right-handed. Nevertheless, evidence of right hemispheric speech was documented in both patients, on the basis of a bilateral sodium amytal test in one case, and of a persistent aphasia after neurosurgical treatment in the other. The possible consequences of an early cerebral pathology on cerebral lateralization are discussed, including pathological right-handedness.