Bilingual aphasia as the initial presentation of a hemorrhagic stroke: Case report

With a great number of bilingual individuals in the world, there is a growing need for understanding and studying language. In cases of bilingual aphasia, patterns of language recovery can vary. Case report: The present case refers to a male patient, 52 years old, right-handed, born in Arkansas-United States of America and resident for 20 years in the city of Santos, São Paulo. The patient is bilingual fluent in English and Portuguese and had a sudden language disorder associated with a right-sided strength and sensitivity deficit; Imaging exams showed a left lenticular nucleus hemorrhagic stroke. In the language assessment, he presented an important impairment of fluency, compression and repetition in the Portuguese language and relative preservation, with slight dysfunction in fluency in the English language. Symptomatic treatment was instituted with partial improvement of the symptoms.