Clinical Reasoning: A 55-Year-Old Man With Rapidly Progressive Weakness and Numbness.
case_report · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42127357.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1212/WNL.0000000000218063.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
A 55-year-old man with uncontrolled diabetes presented with progressive length-dependent weakness, numbness, and paresthesia, leading to profound upper extremity weakness and lower extremity paraplegia in 4 months. A review of systems additionally revealed leg edema, chest wall erythema, and weight loss. Nerve conduction study/electromyography (NCS/EMG) showed axonal length-dependent sensorimotor polyneuropathy. Additional testing revealed a rare etiology. Treatment was started, and the patient's symptoms stabilized. This report discusses the diagnostic approach to rapidly progressive polyneuropathies, emphasizing careful systemic examination, laboratory studies, imaging, and electrophysiologic testing. It also highlights the importance of looking beyond neurologic signs to identify systemic evidence of disease involvement.
Medical subject headings
- Muscle Weakness
- Hypesthesia
- Polyneuropathies