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Unilateral asterixis

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Summary

We describe three patients with unilateral asterixis. One diabetic patient with a moderately-sized haematoma in the left putamen initially developed bilateral and symmetrical asterixis, which became confined to the right side as his diabetes mellitus was controlled. Two patients showed unilateral asterixis due to haematomas in the contralateral basal ganglia and thalamus, respectively. The present findings indicate that not only lesions of the thalamus but also those of the basal ganglia can cause unilateral asterixis, and bilateral and symmetrical asterixis does not necessarily exclude the presence of a focal mass lesion in the cerebrum.

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Author notes

  1. T. Mizutani

    Present address: Department of Neurology, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Kami-machi, Ohyaguchi, Itabashi-ku, 173, Tokyo, Japan

  2. T. Nozawa

    Present address: Department of Neurology, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

  3. Y. Nozawa

    Present address: Division of Medicine, Takeda General Hospital, Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurology, Toranomon Hospital and Okinaka Memorial Institute for Medical Research, 2-2-2 Toranomon, Minato-ku, 105, Tokyo, Japan

    T. Mizutani, R. Shiozawa, T. Nozawa & Y. Nozawa

Authors
  1. T. Mizutani
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  2. R. Shiozawa
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  3. T. Nozawa
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  4. Y. Nozawa
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Mizutani, T., Shiozawa, R., Nozawa, T. et al. Unilateral asterixis. J Neurol 237, 480–482 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00314766

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00314766

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