Compensation for central vestibular dysfunction in patients with acute medullary infarctions (FDG-PET study)

Objective: Earlier functional imaging studies in healthy volunteers during experimental vestibular stimulation and in patients with acute peripheral vestibular neuritis found a reciprocal inhibitory interaction between the vestibular and visual systems. The aim of this fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET study was to define areas involved in the processing of and compensation for central vestibular dysfunction caused by an acute infarction of the lateral medulla affecting the vestibular nucleus. Methods: Twelve patients (10 m, 2 f; mean age 68.3 years) with an unilateral ischemic infarction in the medulla oblongata (6…