Abnormal Gait in Patients Following Leucotomy

We have reported the postmortem findings of one case and present clinical evidence of an abnormal gait among some leucotomized patients since 1940. In a random chronic group of 42 leucotomized patients abnormalities of the gait were found in nine. The gait is reported as different from abnormalities observed in patients taking phenothiazines and it is not considered to be a parkinsonian type of gait. Incoordination between limbs and trunk movements and hypotonia are significant features in most of the cases. A wide walking base, to a greater or lesser degree, was found in all the cases.

The more significant postmortem findings in one such patient were a moderate amount of yellowish necrotic material under the leucotomy scar on the right side and slight reduction in size of the entire right cerebral hemisphere. This patient's gait, when she was attempting to walk forward, was directed sideways to the left.