A Case Reported by Serieux: The First Description of a "Primary Progressive Word Deafness"?

This right-handed patient had a clinical history which Déjerine and Sérieux divided in two parts. The first part going over a five-year period (from 1887 to 1892) was accurately described in the clinical report initially published by Sérieux in the French Revue de Medecine in 1893, as a case of “pure word deafness”. The second part covered the last two years of this patient’s life which were characterised by the development of a gradually worsening sensory aphasia, associated with a considerable lowering of her other cognitive functions.