Integrity of the corticospinal tract is mandatory for good recovery of impaired motor function in patients who have suffered a stroke. A 67-year-old left hemiparetic female showed an infarct in the right pons. Three months after onset, motor function of the affected extremities recovered rapidly to a nearly complete state. Diffusion tensor tractography of both hemispheres showed that the corticospinal tract originated from the primary sensori-motor cortex and descended through the known corticospinal tract pathway. The tract of the affected (right) hemisphere descended through an area within the pontine infarct. The diffusion tensor tractography results suggest that from the onset, the integrity of the corticospinal tract appears to have been spared within the pontine infarct.
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