Visuospatial agraphia due to the right parietal lobe infarction: a case report

Agraphia is an impairment or loss of a previous ability to write. In general, injury of the dominant hemisphere leads to agraphia. However, we report a case in which the patient presented with visuospatial agraphia due to right parietal lobe infarction. A 65-year-old man was admitted with left-sided weakness and paresthesia. Signs of neglect syndrome were also observed in neurological examination. A brain magnetic resonance imaging showed acute infarction in the right parietal lobe. After hospitalization, the patient complained of an inability to write unlike before. Neuropsychological testing revealed no abnormalities in the language domain, but deteriorations in visuospatial, memory, and frontal/executive function. In particular, the patient had difficulty with the Rey Complex Figure Copy task. His writing disability showed features of visuospatial agraphia. Our case suggests that the injury of the right parietal lobe can cause agraphia due to impairment of visuospatial/constructional function.