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The importance of the pontine tegmentum as the micturition centre responsible for urinary voiding has been well established from animal studies.1 A cliniconeuroradiological study showed that the nuclei involved are the pontine reticular nucleus and the reticular formation, located adjacent to the locus ceruleus and the medial parabrachial nucleus.2 This micturition centre, which is thought to coordinate detrusor sphincter activity during micturition, probably conveys its efferent fibres through the bulbospinal pathway to the spinal parasympathetic nucleus.
We describe a patient with suspicion of mild viral rhombencephalitis presenting with acute urinary retention because of a lesion affecting the dorsal tegmentum of the medulla and the pontomedullary junction bilaterally. Reports on urinary retention caused by bulbar lesions other than stroke and tumours are rare but emphasise the importance of this often neglected association.
Case report
A 34 year old Nepali construction worker, with no past medical history, presented with suprapubic pain because of acute urinary retention and was admitted for observation. In …
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Competing interests: none declared