Clinical analysis of 4 cases of Wernekink commissure syndrome

Wernekink commissure syndrome (WCS) is very rare. Four patients with WCS, admitted to our hospital from April to May 2018, were chosen for this study, and their clinical manifestations, imaging features, and etiology were retrospectively analyzed based on the literatures. All patients with WCS manifested as bilateral cerebellar ataxia such as symmetrical limb and trunk ataxia, but the degree of ataxia was asymmetrical distribution based on the anatomy. Dysarthria was the main and constant clinical manifestation of the syndrome. Ophthalmoplegia had great variability, and WCS with oculomotor nerve palsy may be considered as atypical WCS. The incidence of olivary degeneration and palatine myoclonus is relatively low, which may be related to the difference in the reported time intervals of cases. Changes in consciousness and emotion may be the characteristic of neglected WCS, which should be paid more attention. Cerebral infarction is the main etiology of WCS. We reported that cerebral infarction and WCS was the first symptom in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We should pay more attention to special etiology in diagnosis and treatment of WCS.