Cheiro-Oral syndrome secondary to thalamic infarction: a case report and literature review

Small thalamic infarcts can present with a variety of sensory deficits that can be difficult to diagnose clinically because of their seemingly disconnected manifestations.

Here we report a case of a 55-year-old man presenting with the clinical findings of Cheiro-Oral syndrome, a pure sensory thalamic lacunar syndrome that clinically presents with contralateral sensory deficits of the fingers and hemimouth.

This report highlights both common and unusual clinical presentations of isolated thalamic infarctions, correlating clinical symptomatology with anatomic localization. In patients with such findings on examination, thalamic infarction should be considered, with a thorough workup initiated to both confirm the diagnosis and optimally reduce future stroke risk.