Pontine hemorrhage causing Fisher one-and-a-half syndrome with facial paralysis

The case of a 58-year-old white man with a history of high blood pressure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who developed double vision followed by right-sided facial paralysis is reported. A computerized axial tomogram (CT) scan showed an enhancing lesion in the pontine tegmentum, and the diagnoses of pontine glioma or hemorrhage were considered. Physical findings were limited to the cranial nerves. Conservative management with Decadron for 3 weeks resulted in a prompt clinical improvement, and a CT scan 1 month later showed resolution of the lesion, effectively ruling out a glioma. Total clinical recovery occurred at the end of 6 months. To our knowledge this is the first report of a case of Fisher one-and-a-half syndrome with facial paralysis correlated with computed tomography.