Universal Dissociated Anesthesia due to Bilateral Brain-Stem Infarcts

• A 59-year-old man had loss of pinprick and temperature sensation over his head, face, neck, trunk, and all extremities while light touch, vibration, joint position sense, and deep pain were preserved. This was the cumulative result of infarctions in the territories of the right superior cerebellar...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inArchives of neurology (Chicago) Vol. 42; no. 9; pp. 918 - 922
Main Authors Venna, Nagagopal, Sabin, Thomas D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chicago, IL American Medical Association 01.09.1985
Subjects
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Stem - physiopathology
Cerebellum - blood supply
Cerebral Infarction - complications
Cerebral Infarction - diagnosis
Cerebral Infarction - physiopathology
Functional Laterality
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Nervous System Diseases - diagnosis
Nervous System Diseases - etiology
Nervous System Diseases - physiopathology
Neural Pathways
Neurology
Pain - physiopathology
Sensation
Spinal Cord - physiopathology
Temperature
Touch
Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system
Human
Tactile sensitivity
Nervous system diseases
Brain stem infarction
Sensory disorder
Bilateral
Whole body
Thermal sensibility
Cerebrovascular disease
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:• A 59-year-old man had loss of pinprick and temperature sensation over his head, face, neck, trunk, and all extremities while light touch, vibration, joint position sense, and deep pain were preserved. This was the cumulative result of infarctions in the territories of the right superior cerebellar and left posterior inferior cerebellar arteries that occurred three years apart. To our knowledge, a syndrome of bilateral discrete interruption of spinothalamic tracts and of the spinal tracts of the trigeminal system in the brain stem has not been reported. Dissociated sensory loss enveloping the entire body accompanied by truncal and limb ataxia without weakness demonstrated a striking clinical picture. The preservation of deep somatic and visceral pain when cutaneous pain sensation was lost was another notable feature. We review the causes of widespread dissociated sensory loss and discuss the implications of the dissociation of deep from superficial pain.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Case Study-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-4
content type line 23
ObjectType-Report-1
ObjectType-Article-3
ISSN:0003-9942
1538-3687
DOI:10.1001/archneur.1985.04060080104023