Acquired unilateral vocal cord palsy of central origin is relatively uncommon, of which Avellis' syndrome is even more rare. Recently, authors have experienced two cases of Avellis' syndrome which have the characteristics of ipsilateral soft palate paralysis, ipsilateral vocal cord paralysis and contralateral hypesthesia. Involved lesions are nucleus ambiguus, lateral spinothalamic tract and descending sympathetic fiber of medulla oblongata. The diagnosis of Avellis' syndrome was confirmed by MRI finding, which showed infarction of right upper medulla oblongata. We report two cases with a brief review of the literature.