Awake craniotomy with English and British Sign Language mapping in a patient with a left temporal glioblastoma reveals discordant speech-sign language maps

Barua, Neil U.; Williamson, T. R.; Wiernik, Lydia; Mumtaz, Hajira; Mariotti, Sonia; Farrow, Madeleine; David, Raenette; Piasecki, Anna E.

Abstract

The aim of this case study was to describe differences in English and British Sign Language (BSL) communication caused by a left temporal tumour resulting in discordant presentation of symptoms, intraoperative stimulation mapping during awake craniotomy and post-operative language abilities. We report the first case of a hearing child of deaf adults, who acquired BSL with English as a second language. The patient presented with English word finding difficulty, phonemic paraphasias, and reading and writing challenges, with BSL preserved. Intraoperatively, object naming and semantic fluency tasks were performed in English and BSL, revealing differential language maps for each modality. Post-operative assessment confirmed mild dysphasia for English with BSL preserved. These findings suggest that in hearing people who acquire a signed language as a first language, topographical organisation may differ to that of a second, spoken, language.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 16, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jun 10, 2024
• Publication Date: Jun 10, 2024
• Deposit Date: May 29, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 11, 2025
• Print ISSN: 0001-6268
• Electronic ISSN: 0942-0940
• Publisher: Springer (part of Springer Nature)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 166
• Article Number: 260
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-024-06130-x
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/12013360