An Unusual presentation Of Lateral Medullary Syndrome With Ipsilateral UMN Facial Palsy - An Anatomical Postulate

Abstract

The clinical features of lateral medullary syndrome include ipsilateral decreased pain and temperature sensation over face, Horner′s syndrome, gait ataxia, vertigo with nausea and vomiting and reduction of pain and temperature of contra lateral half of body (6). At times, there is also an ipsilateral facial weakness due to ischemia of the caudal part of the 7the nerve nucleus just rostral to the nucleus ambiguus (11). Rarely an ipsilateral upper motor neuron (UMN) facial weakness may be present and the same may be explained by the interruption of the hypothetical looping supranuclear corticofacial fibres which are said to ascend up in the dorsolateral medulla to reach the 7th nerve nucleus from below (8, 9, 10). A single case report is presented here in support of the above neuroanatomical postulate.