Brainstem syndromes, most of them with awkward names

   

The midbrain syndromes

There is a significant overlap between the midbrain syndromes: Weber’s, Benedikt’s, Claude’s and Nothnagel’s.

Weber’s syndrome

Weber’s syndrome is a crossed midbrain syndrome. Other names for the syndrome are midbrain stroke syndrome and superior alternating hemiplegia.

Madhero88, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It is typically caused by an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. The midbrain receives its blood supply from the vertebrobasilar circulation, from the branches of the basilar, posterior cerebral and superior cerebellar arteries. Weber’s syndrome caused by the stroke most often comes with signs of stroke in other parts of the vertebrobasilar system, rarely as an isolated syndrome. Other possible causes of Weber’s syndrome are tumors, aneurysms, and demyelination.

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