Medial pontine syndrome
# Medial pontine syndrome

Medial inferior pontine syndrome is a condition associated with a contralateral hemiplegia."Medial inferior pontine syndrome" has been described as equivalent to Foville's syndrome.

## Presentation

Although medial pontine syndrome has many similarities to medial medullary syndrome, because it is located higher up the brainstem in the pons, it affects a different set of cranial nuclei.

| Structure affected | Presentation |
| - | - |
| Corticospinal tract | Contralateral spastic hemiparesis |
| Medial lemniscus | Contralateral PCML (aka DCML) pathway loss (tactile, vibration, and stereognosis) |
| Abducens nerve | Strabismus (ipsilateral lateral rectus muscle paralysis - the affected eye looks down and towards the nose). Abducens nerve lesion localizes the lesion to inferior pons. |

Depending upon the size of the infarct, it can also involve the facial nerve.

## Cause

Medial pontine syndrome results from occlusion of paramedian branches of the basilar artery.

