[Acute hypertension and sustained arterial hypertension after unilateral intracranial lesion or section of the glossopharyngeus (author's transl)].

Some inflammatory processes of the 9th cranial nerve may provoke disturbances of the autonomic nervous system, with parasympathetic irritation. A unilateral intracranial lesion or section of the glossopharyngeus may produce adverse reactions such as sinus tachycardia and transitory hypertension, due to a cut-off in physiological feedback. The two cases presented developed acute hypertension after either lesion or section of the 9th cranial nerve. In one case the hypertension was of a few days duration only, while the second was rather unusual in that it was sustained over a four-month period. The physiopathologic mechanisms are described as well as the favorable response to treatment with drugs. The hypothesis that arterial hypertension is caused by an over-stimulation of the beta-adrenergic system, in particular in its effect on cardiac output is, at least in part, supported by the favorable response to propranolol. In order to either confirm or discard this hypothesis, the measurement of cardiac output in successive patients after lesion or section of the glossopharyngeus is considered to be of special interest.