Traumatic Isolated Brain Stem Hematoma: A Case Report Presenting with Hemiparesis

Abstract

Isolated brain stem hemorrhages are rare but have a high mortality rate after blunt head trauma. 56-year-old male admitted to the emergency room with weakness on the right side of his body, one day after the blunt head trauma. Right hemiparesis which is near to plegia (lower extremity motor weakness level was higher than upper extremity) was found on his neurological examination. T2-weighted images and susceptibility weighted images (SWI) of the magnetic resonance revealed heterogenous hyperintense lesion with hemorrhage at the left side of the pons. The patient was managed with conservative treatment; at three-month follow-up, near total recovery was observed on his neurological examination. As a conclusion, it could be said that brain stem contusion with hemorrhage could be kept in mind in patient with hemiparesis if the neurological deficit of the patient cannot be explained by supratentorial or spinal cord lesions.