Acute infarct of the corpus callosum presenting as alien hand syndrome: evidence of diffusion weighted imaging and magnetic resonance angiography

BACKGROUND: Infarcts of the corpus callosum are rare and have not been well documented previously. As for a variety of signs and symptoms presented, alien hand syndrome (AHS) can be easily overlooked. CASE PRESENTATION: In this report, we present a patient with a mixed types of AHS coexistence secondary to the corpus callosum infarction, including a motor type of AHS by intermanual conflict (callosal type AHS) and a sensory type of AHS by alien hand and left hemianesthesia (posterior AHS). CONCLUSIONS: Our case may contribute to the early recognition of AHS and to explore the abnormal neural mechanism of AHS. To our knowledge, rare reports have ever documented such mixed AHS coexisting secondary to the callosal lesion, based on advanced neuroimaging methods as in our case.