Locked-in state with bilateral internal capsule infarcts.

A posttraumatic patient was tetraplegic and mute (locked-in), but he retained consciousness and communicated by eye movements. CT showed bilateral internal capsule (IC) infarcts involving the posterior limb and caudal part of the genu, sparing the ventral brainstem. This is the first report of the locked-in state caused by infarcts in both IC.