Sudden Unexpected Death after Lateral Medullary Infarction

ABSTRACT

The prognosis of lateral medullary infarction is mostly benign, but unexpected sudden death can occur even when the initial symptoms are benign. An 81-year-old man visited the emergency room with whirling-type dizziness and right-veering tendency. Brain magnatic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a right lateral medullary infarction accompanied by a right cerebellar infarction. He died suddenly at 1 day after admission with only slight lesion progression on MRI. This case suggests that patients with a lateral medullary infarction should be carefully monitored during the acute period.