title: Auditory and electrophysiological patterns of a unilateral lesion of the lateral lemniscus.
abstract: Auditory disorders resulting from focal brainstem lesions are rarely symptomatic. Isolated lesions of the inferior colliculus have previously been reported, whereas no detailed description of a localized involvement of the lateral lemniscus is yet available. We report a unilateral lesion of the lateral lemniscus by a bleeding in a cavernoma. Symptoms included strictly contralateral tinnitus and auditory impairment, with normal pure-tone and speech audiometry. Conversely, the dichotic listening test revealed an extinction of contralateral ear input. The brainstem auditory evoked potentials disclosed a reduced and delayed wave V only after contralateral ear stimulation, while the middle latency evoked potentials were normal. This observation shows that a unilateral lesion of the lateral lemniscus can produce auditory symptoms. The dysfunction of auditory pathways is associated with specific electrophysiological abnormalities that can be assessed by evoked potential recording.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology and UCB EA1880, Hôpital Neurologique et Neurochirurgical, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Tae-Hee
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nighoghossian
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hermier
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sindou
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mauguière
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D046088:Hearing Loss, Unilateral / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology