[A case of "apraxia of eyelid opening" secondary to right hemisphere infarction--assessment of various symptoms of the eye and eyelid].

A 68-year-old right-handed woman showed "apraxia of eyelid opening" during an acute phase of hemorrhagic infarction in the right middle cerebral artery distribution. She showed paradoxical contraction of the bilateral orbicularis oculi muscles both against our order to open her eyes and even against her hand-movement to help her eyes open, although she could voluntarily open her eyes. She was diagnosed as "apraxia of eyelid opening". Her eyes kept closed in most of time. Spontaneous blepharospasm and a right conjugate gaze preference were also seen. These symptoms disappeared 2 weeks after the hemorrhagic infarction. Because most of cases in previous reports as well as this patient showed "apraxia of eyelid opening" after a right cerebral involvement, we propose that this symptom may attribute to right cerebral dysfunction.