Vertical Gaze Palsy Caused by Selective Unilateral Rostral Midbrain Infarction

ABSTRACT

Vertical gaze palsy is rarely a neurological symptom, although it has been observed in some cases. Here, we report the case of a patient presenting with complete upward and downward gaze palsy. In this case, a small lesion in the left rostral midbrain was observed on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images, and the lesion was considered to cause the ocular symptom. We consider that vertical gaze palsy is an important clue to an accurate topical diagnosis of a brain lesion.

KEYWORDS:

• Rostral midbrain infarction
• rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus (riMLF)
• lacunar infarction
• vertical gaze palsy

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Ethical standard

All human studies must state that they have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.