Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Cureus

Abstract

A 38-year-old male smoker with chronic hypertension, anxiety secondary to alcohol withdrawal, chronic alcohol use, and a history of noncompliance with prescribed medications presented with 2 weeks of progressive left-sided weakness, numbness, dizziness, and gait instability. He also reported a month-long history of facial drooping that had not been formally evaluated. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed a small acute/subacute infarct in the left posterolateral cervicomedullary junction, at the level of the pyramidal decussation, which produced ipsilateral motor and sensory symptoms. This is a rare presentation of a stroke causing purely ipsilateral neurologic deficits and served as an important reminder of neurologic anatomy caudal to the pyramidal decussation.

DOI

10.7759/cureus.97461

Publication Date

11-21-2025

Keywords

brainstem infarction, cervicomedullary junction, corticospinal tract, ipsilateral hemiparesis, medulla oblongata, medullary infarction, pyramidal decussation, small vessel ischemic disease

ISSN

2168-8184

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