Performance of language tasks in patients with ruptured aneurysm of the left hemisphere worses in the post-surgical evaluation

Sub-arachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) promotes impairment of upper cortical functions. However, few information is available emphasizing changes in language after aneurismal SAH and aneurysm location influence. Objective: To assess the language and verbal fluency performance in aneurismal SAH pre- and post-surgery in patients caused by an aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery (AcomA), left middle cerebral artery (L-MCA) and left posterior comunicating artery (L-PcomA). Methods: Assessment in 79 patients with SAH, on two occasions: pre- and post surgical treatment. They were divided into three groups by the aneurysms’ location. Results: Deterioration is detected in the performance of all patients during the post-surgical period; L-MCA aneurysm patients displayed a reduction in verbal naming and fluency; L-PcomA patients deteriorated in the written language and fluency tasks. Conclusion: After the surgical procedure the patients decreased in various language tasks and these differences in performance being directly related to the location of the aneurysm.