Frequency and course of pure motor hemiparesis: a clinical study.

A review of 850 acute unselected stroke cases at Harlem Hospital found only 25 (3%) who met a clinical definition of pure motor hemiparesis. Compared to other cerebral infarction survivors, the 23 pure motor syndrome survivors were slightly younger, not much more often hypertensive and did not make a faster recovery. The degree of motor deficit a year later was nearly the same in both groups. Brain scans were positive in one-third of the pure motor patients, which suggests that this clinical picture may be associated with larger brain lesions than had been suspected before, as well as with lacunar infarction.