A 58-year-old man after a left hemispheric stroke speaks fluently with frequent paraphasic errors and has severely impaired repetition, but comprehension is largely preserved and he can name objects when given time. The lesion most likely involves:

• A Broca area and the frontal operculum
• B Left superior temporal gyrus including Wernicke area
• C Left angular gyrus and surrounding parietal cortex
• D Arcuate fasciculus connecting temporal and frontal language areas ✓

Explanation

Disproportionately impaired repetition with fluent speech and relatively preserved comprehension defines conduction aphasia, produced by interruption of the arcuate fasciculus linking Wernicke and Broca areas. Wernicke aphasia shows poor comprehension, Broca aphasia shows nonfluent output, and angular gyrus involvement gives alexia with agraphia or anomia rather than isolated repetition failure.

Reference: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 21st ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.