[Clinical study of two cases of traumatic cerebellar injury]

Two cases of traumatic cerebellar injury complicated with a traumatic medial longitudinal fasciculus (MLF) syndrome or cerebellar mutism were reported, and the cause of these mechanisms was discussed: Case 1: A 9-year-old boy who struck his head in the occipital region during an automobile accident was operated on for a delayed traumatic intracerebellar hematoma. The operation improved the level of his consciousness but MLF syndrome was noticed. The mechanism of traumatic MLF syndrome was discussed in relation to vascular injury and to neurovascular friction. The outcome of the syndrome including our case, which recovered spontaneously, seemed to support the theory of neurovascular injury. Case 2: A 6-year-old boy who struck his head in the temporooccipital region during an automobile accident was admitted to our hospital without conciousness. On admission, contusion of the temporal lobe and left cerebellar hemisphere was demonstrated by a computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A mute state (cerebellar mutism) was recognized after his recovery of consciousness. The cause of the cerebellar mutism was thought to be an injury of the cerebellar vermis or left cerebellar hemisphere. The findings of CT scan and MRI in our case suggested that the cause of the cerebellar mutism was the contusion of these areas.