Presenile dementia presenting as aphasia.

A focal aphasic syndrome was the first and outstanding manifestation of a degenerative, presenile dementia in a 67 year old man. Computerised axial tomography showed a strikingly dilated left Sylvian fissure--particularly in its posterior aspect--in the presence of moderate diffuse cortical atrophy. The radiographic findings correlated well with the clinical data. This is the first report of an aphasic disturbance of language as the initial symptom is presenile dementia.