A case of bulbar type cerebral palsy: representative symptoms of dorsal brainstem syndrome.
In this study, we present the case of a 2-year-old boy who exhibited facial and bulbar paralysis since birth, severe dysphagia, signs of oculomotor disturbance, jaw jerks, pyramidal signs on both toes, intellectual disability, and severe gastroesophageal reflux. His blink reflex and auditory/somatosensory evoked potentials suggested abnormalities in the lower brainstem, and magnetic resonance imaging showed a T2 hyperintense area in the pontine tegmentum. These findings combined with the patient's symptoms suggested "dorsal brainstem syndrome" and indicated a possibility of prenatal asphyxia in this patient. Nosologic issues regarding this subgroup of cerebral palsy are discussed here.
Department of Child Neurology, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
Masato
M
Hiyane
Yoshiaki
Y
Saito
Takashi
T
Saito
Hirofumi
H
Komaki
Eiji
E
Nakagawa
Kenji
K
Sugai
Masayuki
M
Sasaki
Noriko
N
Sato
Toshiyuki
T
Yamamoto
Yoko
Y
Imai
D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000473:pathology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male