Cerebellar Examination
February 15th, 2021
Overview
Cerebellar pathology produces a specific set of clinical findings that can be readily elicited on clinical examination. Patients with lesions within the cerebellum typically present with a wide-based, unsteady gait with dyscoordination and nystagmus.
Look For
- Wide-based, ataxic gait
- Dysarthria
- Intention tremor
- Dysmetria
- Dysdiadochokinesis
- Muscle wasting
- Nystagmus
Causes of Cerebellar Dysfunction
- Ischaemia
- Haemorrhage
- Tumour
- Trauma
- Multiple sclerosis
- Hypothyroidism
- Paraneoplastic
- Infection - abscess, tubrculosis
- Drugs / toxins - alcohol, lithium, phenytoin, chemotherapy
- Inherited - Friedrich's ataxia, spinocerebellar ataxia
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