Primary pontine hemorrhage and gustatory disturbance: clinicoanatomic study.

Abstract

A clinicoanatomic study of 12 patients with tegmental-type primary pontine hemorrhage proved the presence of a gustatory disturbance among other clinical symptoms on the same side of the tongue as that of the pontine lesion, and suggested the secondary pathway of gustatory sensation from the solitary tract nucleus ascends without decussation in the homolateral pontine tegmentum. These results contradict textbook descriptions regarding the human secondary gustatory pathway.