Guess the disease!
Topic: Behavior
Created on Wednesday, February 21 2007 by jdmiles
Last modified on Wednesday, February 21 2007.
GUESS WHAT I'M THINKING!
I'm thinking of a disorder which may be inherited or sporadic. It begins in early infancy with loss of smile, loss of interest in surroundings, episodes of sweating, seizures, and diffuse myoclonic jerks. As it progresses, there follows diffuse spasticity, blindness, delayed growth, and progressive microcephaly. In late stages, the patient is essentially decorticate. The etiology is not yet understood.
What disease am I thinking of?
A) Alpers' Disease B) Hemifacial Spasm C) Tropical Spastic Paraparesis D) Brown-Sequard Syndrome E) Williams Syndrome
This question was created on February 21, 2007 by jdmiles.
This question was last modified on February 21, 2007.
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS
A) Alpers' Disease
This answer is correct.
Alpers' Disease is a disorder which may be inherited or sporadic. It begins in early infancy with loss of smile, loss of interest in surroundings, episodes of sweating, seizures, and diffuse myoclonic jerks. As it progresses, there follows diffuse spasticity, blindness, delayed growth, and progressive microcephaly. In late stages, the patient is essentially decorticate. The etiology is not yet understood. (
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B) Hemifacial Spasm
This answer is incorrect.
Hemifacial Spasm is a disorder characterised by painless twitching of the muscles on one side of the face (in 5%, bilateral, but asynchronous when it is). Usually caused by arterial compression of the facial nerve, which results in focal demyelination followed by ephaptic coupling of parallel axons. It can also result from Bell's palsy. Medcial treatments include Carbemazepine, baclofen, gabapentin and botulinum toxin. Surgical decompression of the nerve is a highly successful procedure, with some risks, including monaural deafness. (
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C) Tropical Spastic Paraparesis
This answer is incorrect.
Tropical Spastic Paraparesis is a myelopathy related to infection with the HTLV-I virus. It is endemic to Martinique, Jamaica, Colombia and Japan. Key clinical signs include slowly progressing paraparesis with increased DTRs and positive Babinski. (
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D) Brown-Sequard Syndrome
This answer is incorrect.
Brown-Sequard Syndrome is a homolateral paralysis which spares the face, with ipsilateral loss of position and vibratory sense, and contralateral loss of temperature and pain. Results from a unilateral spinal cord lesion. (
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E) Williams Syndrome
This answer is incorrect.
Williams Syndrome is a disease, also called elfin facies syndrome, which is a congenital form of mental retardation related to an abnormality on chromosome 7. Patients are mildly developmentally delayed, but retain musical ability and social skills. Motor skills are impaired. Patients tend also to have supravalvular aortic stenosis. (
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References:
| 1. Victor, M., and Ropper, A.H. (2001). Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York. | |
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behavior
Guess the disease!
Question ID: 02210701
Question written by J. Douglas Miles, (C) 2006-2009, all rights reserved.
Created: 02/21/2007
Modified: 02/21/2007
Estimated Permutations: 0
