Isolated acquired primary gusto-lacrimal reflex from a brainstem glioma.

Abstract

The gusto-lacrimal reflex, also known as Bogorad syndrome, is an autonomic synkinesia in which patients tear excessively in response to salivary stimuli.^1,2 It most often results from aberrant reinnervation following acute idiopathic or traumatic facial nerve palsy. In rare cases, it occurs as a primary phenomenon in the setting of a slow-growing lesion that compresses or infiltrates the nerve, such as a vestibular schwannoma or meningioma in the internal auditory canal.^3,4 We describe a patient with gusto-lacrimal reflex without other evidence of facial nerve dysfunction from a low-grade glioma infiltrating the brainstem and cerebellum.