Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Case Report

Progressive dysarthria and bilateral sensory disturbance in a case of bilateral ventrolateral pontine infarction

Soichiro Abe, M.D.1), Shuhei Okazaki, M.D., Ph.D.1), Shuichi Tonomura, M.D.2), Kotaro Miyashita, M.D., Ph.D.1) and Masafumi Ihara, M.D., Ph.D.1)

1)Department of Neurology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Osaka
2)Department of Neurology, Nara City Hospital, Nara

A rare case of bilateral ventrolateral pontine infarction in a 70-year-old man who developed progressive dysarthria and bilateral sensory disturbance is reported with literature review. He had been diagnosed with hypertension, dyslipidemia, and impaired glucose tolerance 10 years earlier. Ten days before admission, he was aware of the difficulty in walking and speaking, which gradually worsened. On admission he showed bilateral thermal hypoalgesia of face and lower extremities, dysarthria, dysphagia, and ataxic gait. High resolution three-dimensional MRI revealed bilateral ventrolateral pontine infarction with a large atherosclerotic plaque in the ventral side of the basilar artery, which led to a diagnosis of atherothrombotic brain infarction. The atherosclerotic plaque in the basilar artery was thought to be responsible for simultaneous occlusion of the bilateral short circumflex arteries of the pons.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (1363K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 57: 764|768, 2017)
key words: cerebral infarction, atherothrombotic brain infarction, pontine artery, short circumflex artery, high resolution 3 dimensional MRI

(Received: 21-Aug-17)