[Hemiplegia cruciata and severe facial pain due to infarction of the cervicomedullary junction: a case report]

We report the case of a 66-year-old female with hemiplegia cruciata and severe facial pain due to infarction of the cervicomedullary junction. She presented to the hospital with complaints of acute-onset left facial pain and gait disturbance. Neurological examination revealed narrow left palpebral fissure, severe left facial pain and hypothermoesthesia, weakness predominantly in the left upper and right lower extremities, decreased pain and temperature sensation in the right lower extremity, decreased vibration sensation in the left lower extremity, hyperreflexia in the left upper extremity, and mild ataxia in the left upper and lower extremities. Brain MRI revealed a high-intensity lesion in the left cervicomedullary junction on diffusion-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images. Hemiplegia cruciata due to the pyramidal tract injury at the cervicomedullary junction is an uncommon clinical manifestation. However, in patients with hemiplegia cruciata, identifying the lesion location may be difficult. Clinicians should consider the possibility of pyramidal decussation lesions. Anatomical differences, in the course of pyramidal tract fibers between the upper and lower limbs have been considered in the pyramidal decussation. Hemiplegia cruciata in this case was primarily caused by the impairment of the left upper limb pyramidal fibers after the pyramidal decussation and the right lower limb pyramidal fibers before the pyramidal decussation.

Keywords: cervicomedullary junction; facial pain; hemiplegia cruciata; pyramidal decussation; pyramidal tract.