cranial nerve X palsy
Last reviewed 01/2018
Motor paralysis due to dysfunction of the tenth cranial nerve has the following clinical features:
- loss of reflex contraction of the palate seen in the gag reflex
- hoarseness of voice - this may occur in a unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve lesion
- a bovine cough may occur with a bilateral recurrent nerve lesion
The intactness of cranial nerves IX and X are usually tested with an overlapping set of tests, thus:
- palatal movement - the gag reflex
- quality of speech:
- nasal
- guttural
- the ability to cough