PUTAMINAL HEMORRHAGE LEADING TO PURE MOTOR HEMIPLEGIA

Pure motor hemiplegia (PMH) is commonly attributed to lacunar infarcti on of internal capsule or basis pontis. We report 7 patients of pure m otor hemiplegia as a result of small or moderate size putaminal haemor rhage. All the patients had normal median somatosensory evoked potenti als. Central Motor Conduction Time (CMCT) to upper limb was not record able in all 3 patients with complete hemiplegia. Three of seven patien ts had complete and four had partial recovery. Anterioposterior extens ion of small or moderate size putaminal haemorrhage seems to spare the medially located sensory fibres in the internal capsule. On the basis of our results, lateral putaminal haemorrhage should be considered in the differential diagnosis of PMH.