Ischemic thalamic aphasia with pathologic confirmation.

Review of clinical and autopsy records at the New York Hospital revealed a patient with aphasia and right hemiparesis due to a pathologically confirmed 1- X 2-cm ischemic thalamic infarct. This is the only pathologically verified case of aphasia resulting from an infarct limited to the thalamus, and provides further evidence that lesions confined to subcortical structures are capable of affecting language function.