Date of Presentation
5-5-2022 12:00 AM
College
School of Osteopathic Medicine
Poster Abstract
An 87-year-old African American woman with a past medical history of atrial fibrillation on warfarin and peripheral neuropathy with a family history of myasthenia gravis presented to the Emergency Department. The primary reason was loss of consciousness upon standing. The patient was given the diagnosis of hypertension, cervical spinal stenosis, and Parkinson’s Disease. There is little improvement with medications for any of these conditions. Currently, patient has episodes of worsening BP, blackouts, dysphagia, snoring, decreasing voice pitch with trismus. In addition, the patient is positive for dizziness, mild resting tremor in left hand with rigidity, constipation, multiple UTIs and postural instability. The patient and caregiver feel strongly that the care received is less than optimal. The possibility of Multiple System Atrophy, which usually is detected in younger (around age 50) patients, is examined based on differential diagnosis.
Keywords
Multiple System Atrophy, Shy-Drager Syndrome, Differential Diagnosis, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Case Reports
Disciplines
Diagnosis | Geriatrics | Medicine and Health Sciences | Nervous System Diseases | Neurology | Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms
Document Type
Poster
Included in
Diagnosis Commons, Geriatrics Commons, Nervous System Diseases Commons, Neurology Commons, Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Commons
Distinguishing Multiple System Atrophy vs Parkinson’s Disease in an African American Woman
An 87-year-old African American woman with a past medical history of atrial fibrillation on warfarin and peripheral neuropathy with a family history of myasthenia gravis presented to the Emergency Department. The primary reason was loss of consciousness upon standing. The patient was given the diagnosis of hypertension, cervical spinal stenosis, and Parkinson’s Disease. There is little improvement with medications for any of these conditions. Currently, patient has episodes of worsening BP, blackouts, dysphagia, snoring, decreasing voice pitch with trismus. In addition, the patient is positive for dizziness, mild resting tremor in left hand with rigidity, constipation, multiple UTIs and postural instability. The patient and caregiver feel strongly that the care received is less than optimal. The possibility of Multiple System Atrophy, which usually is detected in younger (around age 50) patients, is examined based on differential diagnosis.