Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder Manifesting as Auditory Verbal Agnosia in a 19-Year-Old Patient

Functional neurological symptom disorder (FNSD), otherwise known as conversion disorder (CD), is a condition in which neurological deficits cannot solely be explained by medical pathology. Auditory verbal agnosia (AVA) is the inability to understand speech. While these two conditions are well-documented independently, a case of FNSD manifesting as AVA has not been previously reported. We present a 19-year-old patient, with a history complicated by congenital cardiomyopathy resulting in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and alpha-thalassemia, who demonstrated these symptoms. This case details the effectiveness of a multi-pronged treatment approach that was implemented over several years, eventually leading to the resolution of the conversion symptoms.