Anomia for numbers – a rare post-stroke language impairment. A case study of a patient with isolated naming impairment of numerals

Abstract

Introduction: Word-finding impairments (anomia) are the most common specific symptom of aphasia, which in adults are caused most often by stroke. Although anomic difficulties usually manifest themselves in different forms of speech and involve different word classes, in very rare cases they may involve only one category of words. This type of disorder is called category-specific anomia. Objective: The purpose of the article is to describe the changes in verbal communication in a patient with post-stroke aphasia, including in particular the analysis of the category-specific anomia for number, recognized in him in the long period from the onset of the disease. Material and methods: The patient's language skills were assessed at 2nd week, 3rd month (period of spontaneous recovery and early neurorehabilitation), and 12 months post stroke (distant neurorehabilitation period) using the Boston Test for the Diagnosis of Aphasia and clinical trials to assess different cognitive dysfunctions that can affect ability to name numbers. Results: The results of the conducted studies allowed to find in the patient in sequence: profound mixed aphasia (2nd week after the stroke), mild and moderate language deficits (3rd month after the stroke) and an isolated anomy of numbers (12th month after the stroke). Thanks to the functional improvement, one year after the stroke, the patient performed the tasks of naming objects, activities and describing the features of objects almost without error. In addition, he efficiently recognized and differentiated the values of numbers, correctly wrote down the numbers under dictation and made good mathematical calculations. However, these data contrasted with very low results in trials to name numerals (digits and numbers, hours, dates), assessed as anomia for numbers. Conclusions: Anomia for numbers is a very rare post-stroke language deficit that can be diagnosed in people with aphasia after the withdrawal of coexisting language disorders and the exclusion of other, than the nominating ones, possible causes of incorrect verbal responses to the numerical material.