2020 Volume 61 Issue 2 Pages 130-139
We reported a patient who showed symptoms of Foix-Chavany-Marie syndrome (FCMS) and severe dysarthria after head injury. A 65-year-old right-handed man underwent conservative treatment for acute right subdural hematoma and left cerebral contusion. At initial examination, he had articulation difficulties and could not make facial movements as instructed, such as protruding the tongue and inflating the cheeks. However, his language comprehension was preserved, and he could understand verbal instructions and could write sentences that involved both kana and kanji. With treatment, his articulation gradually improved. His speech was characterized by nasality, roughness, and breathiness. Videofluoroscopic examination showed good mobility of the vocal cords without laterality. In this case, although FCMS-induced dysarthria presented similar to spastic dysarthria, it did not appear to be due to abnormal tone of the muscles controlling the vocal cords. Furthermore, this case provides evidence for the existence of cases where the speech disorder improved even in the presence of severe dysphagia and dysarthria.
