Abstract
40-year-old man was admitted for right sided weakness of his arm and leg. He walked with a limp. Following discussion with the patient and his family, onset of symptoms seemed subacute and progressive. Symptoms started “weeks ago” but he was “getting worse”. The patient had smoked 30–40 cigarettes every day for more than two decades. He denied any head or neck injury. On objective examination there was hyperreflexia with positive plantars bilaterally. His right sided weakness (hemiparesis) was relatively severe (3/5) and it seemed to be upper motor neurone in origin. His right calf (m. gastrocnemius) appeared wasted and atrophic. There were no sensory or bladder symptoms. Cranial nerves (including facial nerves) and cerebellar functions were normal.
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Further Reading
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Dolezal, O. (2019). Right Sided Hemiparesis in Young Smoker. In: Clinical Cases in Neurology. In Clinical Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16628-1_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16628-1_16
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