The selective inability to comprehend the spoken word, in the absence of aphasia or defective or defective hearing, is defined as pure word deafness (auditory verbal agnosia). Reported cases of this rare disorder have suggested the site of involvement to be strategically placed, interrupting fibers from left and right primary auditory receptive areas which project to Wernicke's are in the dominant hemisphere. Our patient is a 44-year-old male who suffered from an uncertain illness complicated by fever, jaundice and generalized seizures seven years previously. Following an apparent convulsion, the patient was noted to be unable to understand spoken language without loss of ability to recognize and respond to sounds or marked impairment of speech or reading. The evidence suggested bilateral cerebral hemisphere disease more marked on the right. The abrupt onset without progression is consistent with a vascular or ischemic etiology. Conclusions about the nature of the lesion and areas involved must await further studies and ultimately tissue examination.