Permanent dysphasia after status epilepticus: long-term follow-up in an elderly patient.

We report the long-term follow-up of an elderly patient who developed a permanent sensorimotor dysphasia after status epilepticus. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and magnetic resonance angiography failed to demonstrate structural cerebral damage; however, a fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scan revealed marked hypometabolism involving a large area in the left hemisphere and contralateral cerebellar cortex. Our case illustrates that permanent language dysfunction may occur after recurrent complex partial and secondarily generalized seizures.