Agraphia: Presenting Feature of Syndrome of Transient Headache and Neurological Deficits With Cerebrospinal Fluid Lymphocytosis (HaNDL)

We report a case of a 48-year-old man with a history of episodes of severe headache, accompanied by motor aphasia and agraphia, with complete recovery between episodes. The neurological examination revealed no abnormality. A lumbar puncture was performed and showed lymphocytic pleocytosis. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis ruled out viral, bacterial, mycobacterial, fungal, treponemal, and NMDA receptor antibodies. Brain magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalogram revealed no abnormalities. A focal frontotemporal area of hypoperfusion was detected in brain single-photon emission tomography. A diagnosis of syndrome of transient headache and neurological deficits with cerebrospinal fluid lymphocytosis (HaNDL) was made to the patient and then treated with ibuprofen 400 mg three times per day with excellent response. He remained asymptomatic and free of any relapse during six months of following. We presented a typical case of HaNDL that manifests with agraphia, a transient focal neurological deficit non previously reported. Showing that the clinical picture could probably be any sign and symptom related to focal cortical alteration due to cortical transient hypoperfusion.