Abstract
Palilalia refers to the paroxymal repetition of a word or sentence.
The subject was a 61-year-old female. When she was 57 years old, she suffered a general convulsion and was medically examined. The convulsion soon disappeared when she was treated with an anticonvulsive drug.
Four years later, at 61 years old, the subject suffered a sudden attack of palilalia. It lasted for a duration of less than one minute, but thereafter occurred several times a day paroxymally. She was admitted to Tohoku University Hospital and was again examined. CT examination revealed a low-density area on the surface of the left frontal lobe. EEG showed an abnormal wave at the fronto-parietal area, and this was diagnosed as a kind of epilepsy. A biopsy showed that it was a chronic inflammatory disease, and not a brain tumor.
Palilalia occurred very often during the 2 months after the first episode. However, with therapy using antico vulsives and antibiotics, the condition began to improve after 4 months and disappeared completely after 6 months. Now 6 months have passed since she left the hospital, and her palilalia has never recurred.
It is assumed that the inflammatory change which occurred at the left frontal lobe stimulated the supplementary motor area paroxymally, and subsequently palilalia occurred as a kind of epilepsy.
