[Acute bilateral deafness and facial diplegia as a presentation of occlusion of the basilar artery].
BACKGROUND
Sudden bilateral deafness and facial weakness are unusual presentations of brain stem stroke.


METHODS
We report the case of a patient who presented successively sudden bilateral deafness and facial diplegia in correlation with a brain stem stroke but without any ischemic pontine lesion.


CONCLUSIONS
Unlike our case, all of the earlier publications, have reported the presence of ischemic pontine lesions in patients with bilateral deafness and facial diplegia. Selective vulnerability of inner ear to ischemia has been hypothesized but cannot explain the facial diplegia.


CONCLUSIONS
Our case would suggest extra-neuraxis failure by ischemia of the acoustico-facial nerve.
Guidoux
C
C
Service de Neurologie, CHU Henri Mondor, Créteil.
Garcin
B
B
Clery-Melin
M L
ML
Blanc
R
R
Jouvent
E
E
Hosseini
H
H
D000208:Acute Disease; D020526:Brain Stem Infarctions / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D003638:Deafness / Q000209:etiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011149:Pons / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D014715:Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis