Col Siddharth Dixit
Classified Specialist Psychiatry Command Hospital Southern Command, Pune. Email Id: sid68sify@gmail.com.
Gerstmann's syndrome is a classic albeit controversial neurological syndrome. It is more in domain of neurologist than psychiatrist. We report a case of Gerstmann's syndrome with peripheral and central tuberculosis which presented in psychiatric setting baffling relatives and clinicians. Patient presented with acute onset of behavioral abnormalities and Standardized neuropsychological tests for intelligence, attention, memory, apraxia and language functions as well as tests for assessment of agraphia, acalculia, right - left disorientation, finger agnosia were performed. Individual exhibited all four symptoms of Gerstmann's syndrome viz finger agnosia, agraphia, right - left disorientation and dyscalculia, besides exhibiting nominal aphasia, alexia, constructional and ideational apraxia. Pure Gerstmann syndrome is a rarity and this case is an unusual presentation of neuro- tuberculosis still common in our clinical setting. In absence of localizing signs parietal lobe pathology can mimic psychiatric presentation.
Keywords: Gerstmann's Syndrome, behavioral abnormalities