Broca’s aphasia as a consequence of electric shock – A case study

The electric shock (ES) occurs upon contact of a human body part with any source of electricity that causes a sufficient current through the skin, muscles and hair. Broca's aphasia is a type of nonfluent aphasia, so called because speech production is halting and effortful. Current literature contains relatively little about the present state of knowledge concerning the neurological effects of electrical injury to man. A 50 year old case reported C U Shah Medical College and Hospital, Surendranagar with complaint of electric shock in his right hand. He lost consciousness and when he regained consciousness he had right sided hemiparesis and had lost speech ability. The CT scan (fig 1) finding showed infracts in left frontal lobe. The patient was assessed with the first part of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) (Kertesz, 1974). His spontaneous speech, repetition, naming are severely affected while auditory comprehension was relatively better. He was diagnosed with Broca’s aphasia. The pathology of Aphasia due to electrical shock involves blood vessel damages. Electrical shock can result in many neurological complications and Aphasias are one of them. We need to assess all these possibilities while working with the persons who have suffered electrical shock.