Vertical gaze paralysis and intermittent unresponsiveness in a patient with a thalamomesencephalic stroke

J Neuroophthalmol. 1995 Dec;15(4):230-5.

Abstract

A patient with paralysis of upward gaze and downward gaze, absent oculocephalic reflexes, and absent vertical saccades also demonstrated intermittent stupor over the first 9 days of presentation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated an infarct in the tegmentum of the mesencephalon including the right red nucleus and the periaqueductal area, superior to the oculomotor nucleus, and contiguous through the left thalamus. The infarct included the area around the rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus (riMLF), as well as the midbrain reticular formation. Mechanisms are proposed for the unusual concurrent sign of intermittent unresponsiveness in this case.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Cerebral Infarction / complications
  • Cerebral Infarction / diagnosis
  • Cerebrovascular Disorders / complications*
  • Cerebrovascular Disorders / pathology
  • Coma / etiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Mesencephalon / pathology*
  • Nystagmus, Optokinetic / physiology
  • Ocular Motility Disorders / etiology*
  • Ocular Motility Disorders / physiopathology
  • Paralysis / etiology*
  • Paralysis / physiopathology
  • Pupil Disorders / etiology
  • Pupil Disorders / physiopathology
  • Saccades / physiology
  • Thalamus / pathology*