title: Pure sensory stroke as an isolated manifestation of the lateral medullary infarction.
abstract: Pure sensory stroke is a common manifestation of a thalamic stroke and may occur less frequently in the infarction of the brainstem, internal capsule, and parietal cortex. The authors report a 47-year-old man who presented with loss of pain and temperature sensation in the left face, arm, trunk, and leg and was found to have a right lateral medullary infarction on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case describing pure sensory stroke as a single, isolated manifestation of the lateral medullary infarction that was detected by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. This case suggests that with the availability of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, pure sensory stroke may carry a broader spectrum of the anatomical localizations than previously determined and can localize to the lateral medulla. Therefore, a possibility of medullary infarction should be considered when a patient presents with pure sensory stroke, especially when diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging is not immediately available to provide radiographic correlation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Mayo College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA.
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blitshteyn
authors.forename: Frank A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Rubino
mesh_terms: D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D006801:Humans; D014854:Lateral Medullary Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology*