[Cheiro-oral syndrome with pontine infarct--report of a case]

A case of cheiro-oral syndrome presumably due to brain stem infarction was reported. A 41-year-old man suddenly experienced the numbness of the palm and the lips on the left side at 2 p. m. March 30, 1982 and was admitted to our clinic at 5 p.m. on that day. Neurological examination on admission revealed hypesthesia of the palm and the lips on the left side, but pain and temperature sensibilities were preserved. Neither astereognosia nor extinction phenomenon was there. CT scan showed no abnormal findings. At 9 p.m. his speaking became somewhat obscure and he became unable to swallow fluid. And after ten hours or so, he became quadriplegic, anarthric and lost almost all voluntary movement below the eye, while his consciousness was preserved ("Locked-in" syndrome). CT scan taken on the 9th hospital day revealed brain stem infarction. He expired on the 58 th hospital day because of the exacerbation of pneumonia. At autopsy both vertebral arteries and basilar artery were markedly sclerotic. The rostral two-thirds of the basilar artery was occluded by organized thrombus. The serial microscopic sections through the midbrain and the medulla oblongata showed extensive infarction of the basis pontis. The tegmentum pontis remained free, except that a small offshoot of the infarct reached into the medial part of the medial lemniscus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)