Peripheral Facial Palsy With Intact Taste and Tearing Caused by Intrapontine Lesion

• Two patients with documented lesions in the floor of the fourth ventricle had unilateral paralysis of the upper and lower facial muscles but normal taste sensation and tearing function. These findings contradict the widely accepted clinical notion that an intraparenchymal lesion of the facial nerve invariably causes loss of gustatory and lacrimal function.