Central pain described as a severe burning pain contralateral to the lesion is characteristic of which syndrome?

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Multiple Choice

Central pain described as a severe burning pain contralateral to the lesion is characteristic of which syndrome?

Central thalamic pain syndrome arises after a lesion in the thalamus, especially the ventral posterior complex, which disrupts the normal modulation of somatosensory input. The result is a painful, burning, often persistent sensation on the opposite side of the body—central neuropathic pain that can be accompanied by allodynia and hyperalgesia. This contralateral burning pain is a hallmark of thalamic pain syndrome (Dejerine-Roussy), typically occurring after a thalamic stroke or injury and may emerge weeks after the lesion. The other listed conditions involve brainstem or corticospinal pathways and produce different clinical pictures (motor weakness, cranial nerve signs, coma or locked-in paralysis) rather than the characteristic contralateral burning pain, so they do not fit this presentation.

Central thalamic pain syndrome arises after a lesion in the thalamus, especially the ventral posterior complex, which disrupts the normal modulation of somatosensory input. The result is a painful, burning, often persistent sensation on the opposite side of the body—central neuropathic pain that can be accompanied by allodynia and hyperalgesia. This contralateral burning pain is a hallmark of thalamic pain syndrome (Dejerine-Roussy), typically occurring after a thalamic stroke or injury and may emerge weeks after the lesion.

The other listed conditions involve brainstem or corticospinal pathways and produce different clinical pictures (motor weakness, cranial nerve signs, coma or locked-in paralysis) rather than the characteristic contralateral burning pain, so they do not fit this presentation.

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