Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive form of muscular dystrophy caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. Patients with DMD are more likely to have cerebral infarction than normal populations, possibly due to low ejection fraction and cardiomyopathy, and also higher epilepsy prevalence. Careful history taking and neurological examination are needed for differentiating new symptoms from preexisting weakness in DMD. Here, we present a young male with DMD and acute ischemic stroke followed by recurrent seizures.

Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) have been known to useful in documenting abnormality in patients with various vestibular disorders but the studies of VEMP in stroke patients are rare. We recorded VEMP in 17 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke in the brainstem lesions. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging and we compare VEMP results with the lesion documented by brain imaging. VEMP were defined to be abnormal when they were very asymmetrical (one is 2 times of more as large as the other), or absent in one side. VEMP abnormalities were found in 71%(12/17) of acute infarction patients with brainstem lesions. Most abnormalities found in the ipsilateral side of the lesion(9/12) but abnormalities in contralateral side of lesion were found in 25%(3/12) of patients.VEMP would be considered a useful complementary neurophysiological tool for the evaluation of brainstem dysfunction in acute stroke patients