Brainstem syndromes
Update:
Information on investigations and treatment updated; further reading updated.
A relevant case history from Neurological Case Histories: Case Histories in Acute Neurology and the Neurology of General Medicine has been added to this chapter.
Brainstem syndromes typically cause ipsilateral cranial nerve lesions and contralateral long tract signs. They are commonly due to brainstem ischaemia, but can also be caused by neoplasia, demyelination, infective and hamartomatous lesions. Imaging, ideally with MRI rather than CT, is obligatory and only then—and possibly following other investigations to identify systemic abnormality or cerebrospinal fluid changes—can appropriate therapy be introduced.
Oxford Medicine requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.