Spontaneous Wernicke-like aphasia with the ability to repeat heard language results from interruptions of pathways that link frontal and temporal lobe language areas. Prognosis and Treatment Recovery from aphasia depends on several factors, including the size and location of lesions, the degree of language impairment, and, to a lesser degree, age, education, and systemic health. After that age, most recovery occurs within the first 3 mo, but improvement continues to a variable degree up to a year. As a rule, comprehension improves more than the language function. In such persons, specific injuries to either hemisphere can cause aphasia, but nearly all recover rapidly.
Treatment is controversial.
Evidence indicates that patients systematically treated by qualified speech therapists improve more than untreated patients with similar deficits. In general, patients treated soon after onset do best. All rights reserved.