Spontaneous cervical epidural hematoma (SCEH) is an uncommon cause of acute nontraumatic myelopathy. SCEH presenting as Brown-Sequard syndrome is extremely rare. A 65-year-old man had motor weakness in the left extremities right after his mother's funeral. He received thrombolytic therapy under the impression of acute cerebral infarction at a local hospital. However, motor weakness of the left ...

Muscle weakness is highly prevalent during acute critical illness, with the poor exercise performance that occurs after critical illness being recognized as a consequence of skeletal muscles weakness. Advanced techniques to measure peripheral muscle strength are available, but they have limited use in the clinical setting. Simple volitional methods to assess strength are limited because they re...

Long-term steroid use has a well-documented risk of myopathy that imposes functional limitations for patients and challenges for health care providers. Proximal weakness from steroid myopathy affects support structures around the pelvic girdle and likely predisposes patients to somatic dysfunction. To the authors' knowledge, there are no prior reports in the literature that describe an osteopat...

A 29-year-old man was brought to an emergency department by the United States Coast Guard with chief complaints of severe abdominal pain, right leg paresthesia and weakness following four deep air dives. Physical examination before recompression treatment was remarkable for diffuse abdominal tenderness and right leg weakness. The patient was diagnosed in the emergency room with type II decompre...

Progressive motor deficits are relatively common in acute pontine infarction and frequently associated with increased functional disability. However, the factors that affect the progression of clinical motor weakness are largely unknown. Previous studies have suggested that pontine infarctions are caused mainly by basilar artery stenosis and penetrating artery disease. Recently, lower pons lesi...

Acute motor and sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN) are recently described subtypes of Guillain-Barre syndrome characterized by acute onset of distal weakness, loss of deep tendon reflexes, and sensory symptoms. A 21-yr-old male was transferred to our hospital due to respiration difficulties and progressive weakness. In laboratory findings, immunoglobulin M antibodies against hepatitis A were det...

STUDY OBJECTIVE Little is known about the presenting features of acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in children presenting to the emergency department (ED). Yet, initial clinical assessment is a key step in the management pathway of stroke. We describe the presentation in the ED of children with confirmed acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke subtypes. METHODS We conducted a retrospective ...

INTRODUCTION Patients in the intensive care unit develop generalized weakness due to a number of factors. Neuromuscular weakness is a common cause of failure to wean from the ventilator and decreased limb movements. A rational approach to evaluation of weakness will help to identify most of the common causes of neuromuscular weakness in the intensive care unit. AIMS This review provides an an...

T periodic paralysis (TPP) is a disorder characterized by thyrotoxicosis, hypokalemia and predominantly proximal lower limb paralysis. Despite the female predominance of hyperthyroidism, TPP occurs most frequently in males in a ratio of 20:1, and 90% of patients are of Asian descent. Prodromal symptoms may consist of muscle stiffness or cramping. Sensation, as well as bulbar and respiratory mus...

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) manifests as acute flaccid weakness of limbs, and is considered a monophasic illness. But recurrences have been reported. Published case studies suggest that 15% of patients who had GBS will have recurrent attacks. We describe a 66-year-old lady who presented with acute onset descending, symmetrical, areflexic, flaccid quadriparesis that progressed to respiratory f...