Sunday, 31 October 2021

38/F with Seizures and Other CNS Findings.

 

 

I am Saranya ,a final year MBBS student.

Greetings to all my readers;

This is an elog documenting the patients that I witness during my Clinical Postings to enforce a greater patient centered learning .

 

 DEIDENTIFICATION : 

The privacy of the patient is being entirely conserved. No identifiers shall be revealed through out the piece of work whatsoever.

 

Introduction :  

Here we shall discuss our patient who is a 38 year old lady hailing from a village in South India .She is a tailor by occupation.

 

Presenting Picture of the patient :

 

BACKGROUND


Almost all her 38 years of life have been if a different shade as compared to any other of her contemporaries. 

This is because when she was 3 year old ,one day she experienced fever for a day and then the next day she developed inability to move both her lower Limbs.

 Since then she has grown up with the help of mechanical support to substitute her lost power in her lower Limbs.


Fast Forwarding to 20 days before the day of presentation to our Hospital ( henceforth shall be referred to Hospital2)


She developed high grade fever , cough with sputum , headache.

She took medications prescribed by a local physician

After a couple of days , since any of the symptoms mentioned above weren’t  subsiding

She was taken to a local hospital ( Hospital1 )

There the attenders were told that she has low hemoglobin ( 5gm/dl ) and was transfused 3 units of packed cells .


Post other medications administered by Hospital 1 her fever subsided but other problems did not.

4 days prior to presentation to Hospital 2

She developed weakness in her Right upper limb and Right lower Limb  , slurred speech and disorientation.

She also had seizure episode that night and couple of days even after that.

She was taken to the same Hospital1 once again  where they referred her to Hospital 2 and thus she presented to us.

 

Note : No seizure episode has been witnessed since admission to Hospital2 on 30.10.21.

 

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY THE PRESENT ILLNESS DEVELOPED :

 

Since she was not keeping well since the last 20 days ,her husband used to keep a check on her health via telephone from his workplace ( a restaurant cook )


On his call that day , she mentioned to him that she wasn’t feeling quite well ,and by the time he returned home after work ,he reports that her eyes had a blank stare , she could identify him but she spoke few words which were slurred ,did not carry any meaning and then she stopped speaking .


Some time later she threw a seizure episode wherein her husband gives history of eye rolling and tongue bite.


After which she was taken to Hospital 1 and then Hospital 2.

 

CHRONIC DISEASES :


She is not a known case of DM ,HTN ,Bronchial Asthma ,TB, Thyroid.


 

DAILY ACTIVITIES :

She consumes mixed diet , with a slightly lessened appetite since the past fortnight , sleeps adequately , bowel and bladder Normal

No history of any involuntary passage of urine or stools

She is not a smoker ,she doesn’t consume alcohol.

 

No known food or drug allergies.

 

FAMILY HISTORY :

No similar complaints in any of her immediate family members.

No history of sudden deaths in the family.

 

 

EXAMINATION


General examination :


Positive findings :


Pallor present.

Generalized edema present.

Hyperpigmented knuckles.


VITALS :


Body temperature: Afebrile

Pulse : 80 bpm

B.P : 130/70 mm Hg

R.R. : 16 bpm


On auscultation :

S1 , S2 heard.

Diffuse wheeze heard in all lung fields.



Abdomen soft and non tender.













CNS FINDINGS :

Patient is conscious ,but NOT coherent .
She is disoriented.

She is aphasic.



                               R                         L

TONE        UL   Hypotonic        Normal

                  LL      Hypotonic       Hypotonic

      

POWER     UL       1/5                  3/5

                   LL       1/5                  2/5

 

REFLEXES

 

         B      T      S      K        A         P

 

R      1+     -     -       -          -         Extensor

 

L       1+    2+   -     -          -         Extensor


Babinsky Positive in Right limb.












INVESTIGATIONS : 











 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, 26 October 2021

62/M Repeated Episodic Paralysis of Limbs.

 

Greetings to all my readers.

I am Saranya , a final year MBBS student.

This is an elog documenting the patients that I witness during my Clinical Postings to enforce a greater patient centered learning .

 DATED : 26th October 2021


CONSENT AND DEIDENTIFICATION : 

The patient and the attenders have been adequately informed about this documentation and privacy of the patient is being entirely conserved. No identifiers shall be revealed through out the piece of work whatsoever.

 

PRESENTING PICTURE OF THE PATIENT


A 62 year old man ,farmer by occupation, hailing from South India, presented to us on 23rd of October 2021 with complaints of weakness of both lower Limbs till level of knee since the night before.

 

ELABORATING ON HIS PRESENTING COMPLAINT :


Although the present acute attack began just a night before the day of presentation of the patient to us ,his illness seems to date back to 2K18 when one fine day ,while at home ,after he came back from his daily field work, suddenly there was onset of weakness in both is lower Limbs, along with slurring of speech which continued for a duration of 2 days and then resolved post medications administered by the physicians at Gandhi Hospital.


Post this first episode of 2k18 ,he returned into his normal routine within 4 days ,and everything went unexceptional until 2k19 when a similar episode was witnessed by him again , but this time there was no slurring of speech.


Following the previous trend,he was hospitalized but was back to normalcy within the next 2 days.

The present acute episode happened in the late hours of 22nd October 2021 .

 

DESCRIBING THE DAY ON WHICH THE LATEST EPISODE OOCCURED.


22 October 2021


He was mentally disturbed since the past one week due to the death of one of his close relative ,which the patient feels was responsible for him having accentuated his daily alcohol intake

On this day he had done quite a lot of work at his field and some other significant outdoor activity following which in the evening he came back home ,when he complains of having felt feverish.

Nevertheless he freshened up ,had his dinner, consumed about 100 _ of toddy and went to sleep.

He had got up once to pass urine when he did not feel anything abnormal in himself

But the second time when he felt the need of getting up once again to pass urine he realized what his left lower Limb did not have any strength at all ,in the next moment his right limb also felt weak

He also felt weakness in both his upper Limbs.

No problem was felt in speech or articulation

In this state he was brought to us,in the early hours of 23rd October 2021.

 

CO MORBIDITIES :


He is not a K/C/O Hypertension,Diabetes Mellitus,Bronchial Asthma,Coronary Artery Diseases or Epilepsy.

 

He has normal appetite ,takes mixed diet,bowel and bladder normal, gets adequate sleep.

No known food or drug allergies.

 

ADDICTIONS :

Not a smoker.

He consumes toddy daily since the last 30 years ( 90 daily) But has increased his daily consumption since the last few weeks.

 

FAMILY HISTORY : No similar complaints in any of his relatives.

 

 GENERAL EXAMINATION :








ABNORMAL PARAMETERS IN THE LABORATORY WORK UP :

 

Serum Creatinine   2.2 mg/dl

Serum Potassium  2.4 mEq / l

Serum Magnesium 1.7 mg /dl

 

Total Bilirubin         1.15 mg/dl

Direct Bilirubin        0.36 mg/dl

Alkaline Phosphate  174 IU / L

 

CBP :

 

 



 

 DISCUSSION THREADS : 

* How to differentiate between similar presentations due to inflammation mediated attack on myelin sheath of nerve fibres and those due to electrolyte Imbalance?

 

* What is causing recurrent dyselectrolemia in the patient?