This Dutch teenager will remember his knee operation for the rest of his life. When he woke up from his general anesthesia, the 17-year-old patient no longer spoke his mother tongue… He did not understand it, did not speak it, and was only able to express himself in English – although tinged with a strong Dutch accent. Simple episodic delirium or real language disorder? Regardless, his case is unprecedented.
The high school student’s medical report was published in January 2022 in the Journal of Medical Case Reports. He says the teenager was hospitalized for knee surgery following an injury sustained during a football match. After waking up from his anesthesia, he behaved strangely. In addition to no longer speaking his native language, the young Dutchman has repeatedly stated that he is convinced that he is in the United States. Worse still, he no longer recognized his parents.
First of all, the patient’s reaction to waking up did not worry the medical profession unduly. His situation was undoubtedly a delirium of emergence, a state of great confusion which can follow general anesthesia. After several hours without progress, and Dutch not coming back naturally to the patient, a psychiatric consultation was requested.
The teenager’s examination took place eighteen hours after his operation. Doctors describe his demeanor in the medical report, saying he was relaxed, attentive and open to communication. Relaxed certainly, but in English.
A unique case
What diagnosis should be made of this strange case? Psychiatrists argued that the young man suffered from an extremely rare foreign language syndrome. According to the online magazine Live Science, medical records only report the existence of nine similar cases.
Even among these cases, the one we are talking about today is quite unusual. Most of the previous patients were adult men, having abandoned their native language for another during their lives. The authors of the report also suggested that this was the very first case of foreign language syndrome in a minor.
Further neurological examinations showed no obvious abnormalities and the patient gradually recovered his language abilities. He first regained understanding of his language, even though he still did not speak it. Then, the day after his operation, his friends came to visit him and he suddenly managed to communicate with them in Dutch. Eind goed, al goed.
