- © 2012 Marshfield Clinic
Isolated Unilateral Hypoglossal Nerve Palsy Due to Vertebral Artery Dissection
- Karthik Mahadevappa, MBBS*,
- Thomas Chacko, MD† and
- Anil K. Nair, MD*⇓
- *Department of Neurology, Quincy Medical Center/ Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Quincy, Massachusetts, USA
- †Department of Radiology, Quincy Medical Center, Quincy, Massachusetts, USA
- Corresponding Author: Anil K. Nair, MD, Chief of Neurology, Quincy Medical Center, Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Center, 114 Whitwell Street, 4th floor, Quincy, MA 02169, USA, Tel: (617) 302-6388, G.Voice: (617) 639-5006, Fax: (617) 934-2425, Email: nair.anil{at}gmail.com
Abstract
We report the case of a patient with unilateral tongue weakness secondary to an isolated lower motor neuron hypoglossal nerve palsy that was caused by a right vertebral artery dissection in the lower neck. The patient had a boggy tongue with a deviation to the right side but an otherwise normal neurological examination. Magnetic resonance angiography showed a narrow lumen of the right vertebral artery in the neck. After initially treating the patient with aspirin in the emergency room and later with warfarin for three months, there was complete recanalization of the right vertebral artery. Only one other case of vertebral artery dissection and twelfth nerve palsy has been reported before.
