A few comments on Ravel's disease

Sir, It is with great interest that we read the paper from Seeley and colleagues (Seeley et al ., 2008) on the consequences of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) on a patient's pictorial production. However, we are somewhat concerned that the authors have attributed the cognitive disorders developed by Ravel (1875–1937) in his last 4 years to PPA.This diagnosis is mainly based on data published by Alajouanine, the eminent neurologist who examined Ravel over 2 years and suggested the existence of ‘Wernicke aphasia’ of ‘moderate’ intensity (Alajouanine, 1948; Amaducci et al ., 2002). However, a careful reading of this article—an MD thesis on Ravel's disease which has unfortunately never been published (Achache, 1990)—and many accounts from Ravel's friends, biographers and musicologists, as well as more recent …