A nearly four-year-old boy awoke blind, deaf and mute from a coma of five days duration after a status epilepticus caused by hyperpyrexia from shigellosis. The authors give a detailed report of the recovery. Visual and auditory functions recovered within six months after the onset but expressive language difficulties remained. Following a discussion of the underlying mechanisms producing the cerebral damage, the hypothesis of a type of "disconnection syndrome" is put forward to explain the persisting language deficit.
Central blindness - Central deafness - Aphasia - Shigellosis - Status epilepticus
