Isolated inferior rectus muscle palsy from a solitary metastasis to the oculomotor nucleus
T. J. Pusateri, L. A. Sedwick and C. E. Margo
A 55-year-old man with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus had
vertical diplopia secondary to metastasis to the brain stem. The lesion was
detected by magnetic resonance scanning but not by computed tomography.
Clinically, the disturbance in ocular motility localized to the right
inferior rectus muscle. At autopsy, a single metastasis was present in the
brain stem, contiguous with the right oculomotor nucleus and involving a
small portion of the nucleus. The findings in this case support the concept
that, in humans, the oculomotor nucleus is organized into functional
subnuclei.
