Ischaemic pontomedullary transection with incomplete locked-in syndrome

Abstract

We describe a case of incomplete locked-in syndrome (LIS) due to basilar artery thrombosis, in which MRI showed a complete, sharply demarcated infarct at the pontomedullary junction. This supports experimental data showing that the lower reticular formation is not critical for the maintenance of consciousness. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of ischaemic pontomedullary transection with LIS.