Cerebellar ataxia in ataxic hemiparesis? A kinematic and EMG analysis.

It has recently been proposed that the ataxia in ataxic hemiparesis is a clumsiness common to all patients with hemiparesis and not indicative of any involvement of corticopontocerebellar or cerebellocortical pathways. In disagreement with this view, we report here that a patient with ataxic hemiparesis, following a lesion of the corona radiata, showed the disorders in kinematic and electromyographic (EMG) parameters of goal-directed movements that have recently been demonstrated to be characteristic of patients with cerebellar lesions. This suggests involvement of corticopontocerebellar or cerebellocortical pathways in ataxic hemiparesis.