Dorsolateral medullary ischemic infarction causing autonomic dysfunction and headache: a case report

Riccardo Altavilla; Doriana Landi; Claudia Altamura; Gennaro Bussone; Paola Maggio; Marzia Corbetto; Federica Scrascia; Fabrizio Vernieri

doi:10.1007/s10194-012-0427-8

Dorsolateral medullary ischemic infarction causing autonomic dysfunction and headache: a case report

J Headache Pain. 2012 Jun;13(4):327-30. doi: 10.1007/s10194-012-0427-8. Epub 2012 Feb 29.

Authors

Riccardo Altavilla¹, Doriana Landi, Claudia Altamura, Gennaro Bussone, Paola Maggio, Marzia Corbetto, Federica Scrascia, Fabrizio Vernieri

Affiliation

¹ Neurologia Clinica, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo 200, Rome, Italy. [email protected]

Abstract

Stroke can present, among other signs, with headache. Here, we describe the case of a man suffering from severe orbitary pain and autonomic dysfunction secondary to dorsolateral medullary ischemia. The anatomical relationship between lesion and symptomatology could be an indirect sign of hypothalamospinal tract involvement in the genesis of autonomic dysfunction and headache resembling a trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Aged
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / therapeutic use
Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / drug therapy
Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / etiology*
Brain Infarction / etiology*
Brain Infarction / pathology
Brain Ischemia / complications*
Brain Ischemia / pathology
Follow-Up Studies
Headache / drug therapy
Headache / etiology*
Humans
Male
Medulla Oblongata / pathology*

Substances

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal