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51 years old male with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in hematological remission was admitted to the hospital due to abrupt loss of vision. The cause of estimated complication was symmetrical infiltration of optical nerves. No other symptoms of leukaemia were observed at the time. In spite of combined radio- and chemotherapy no improvement was achieved. Two months later leukaemia relapse in the bone marrow was observed. The patient died of septic complications during reinduction treatment.

On the basis of clinical analysis and pathological findings in 25 patients dying after occlusion of the basilar artery the authors describe the main signs and course of the disease. Their observations made possible isolation of two types of the disease: 1) acute, with sudden consciousness disturbances leading to gradually increasing coma with flaccid extremities or decerebrate rigidity, stiff pupils not reacting to light and, frequently, with divergent squint, 2) subacute--with headache and hemiparaesthesiae and later quadriparesis and paresis of cranial nerves III to VII or IX, X, XII. A characteristic clinical feature is variability of neurological signs in the disease. The most frequent cause of basilar artery occlusion were atherosclerotic changes.