[Neuropathology of contralateral pain flexor reflexes]

Postmortem neuropathological and neuroanatomical--topographical examinations of brain section series of 10 patients with brain tumours of different histological type and localization with evidence of the Contralateral Pain Flexor Reflex (CPFR), described by Sayk (1982), were performed. In each case could be found an alteration or damage of functionally relevant structures of the ventrocaudal--lateral Thalamus, the intralaminar and intralaminar-reticular nuclei, of the Pulvinar thalami, the lemniscus medialis and the striopallidar nuclei formation by tumuorcellinfiltration and oedema. Possible ways of origin of the CPFR, pathophysiological possibilities and the prognostic relevance of this reflex are discussed.