Aberrant regeneration in a case of syringobulbia: selective co-activation of abducens and facial nerves during saccades.

A patient suffering from syringobulbia and syringomyelia exhibited a phasic contraction of the ipsilateral facial muscles, mainly the levator labii, whenever he looked to the left or right. Facial muscle twitches occurred exclusively with saccades. The selective co-activation of abducens and facial nerves is interpreted as the result of bilateral misrouting of regenerating neurons from the parapontine reticular formation to the facial nerve in the tegmentum pontis.