Neuro-otology of the lateral medullary infarct syndrome

Nine patients had a lateral medullary infarction. Examination during the acute phase of the lesion to determine oculomotor and oculovestibular functions showed that all patients had hypermetric saccades and increased gain of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) to the side of the lesion and hypometric saccades and decreased gain of the VOR to the side opposite the lesion. These abnormalities may be the consequence of the isolation of the vestibular nuclei from the flocculus, with loss of saccadic and vestibular gains by the cerebellum.