7/30/2019 Neurological Diseases - Clinical Correlation 2

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Natalie Focha

27 November 2012

NS M101A

Clinical Correlation 2

Clinical Correlation #2: Neurological Diseases

In our second and last clinical correlation, Dr. Carmichael a neurologist who researches brain repair after

injury, introduced Mr. Bridges to the class. Usually, the most useful information that allows neurologists

to diagnose their patients relatively easier is conversation between the doctor and patient and any

relatives that have witnessed the patients symptoms. Therefore, to present Mr. Bridges case to our

class, Dr. Carmichael began a conversation with Mr. Bridges about the timing and tempo of Mr. Bridges

condition before the diagnosis was discovered. Mr. Bridges troubles began in 2006 with intense pain in

his lower back that led to an emergency back surgery in 2007 for his hernia disc. However, after his

surgery the pain became even worse, extending into his legs. Another common symptom or a hernia

disc developed in October 2007 called drunk foot where Mr. Bridges became difficult to push while

walking. This symptom is most often created by a lumbar neuron (the L5 lumbar root) in the dorsal

spinal cord. In addition, Mr. Bridges began to experience muscle spasms that would sometimes reach

his face or head. In 2010, numbness, starting at his foot and sometimes traveling up to his face ruled

out the damaged hernia disc theory and neurologists decided that the pain was localized above the

spinal cord, affecting the face and arms. Finally, in 2012, Mr. Bridges began to erratically lose his ability

to control the mouse of his computer. As he is employed as a software designer, this became a large

problem in his everyday life. One day he experienced a sudden, uncontrollable shaking that began in his

foot and continued to his hand paired with a difficulty in breathing, called a pure motor seizure, causedby an abnormal burst of hyperactivity in the brain. Paramedics, under the impression that Mr. Bridges

had a stroke, transport Mr. Bridges to the Ronald Regan Hospital. At the hospital, a magnetic resonance

imaging device (MRI) was used take an axial image of his brain which revealed a cerebral edema behind

and pressing on the motor strip, causing the pain and symptoms that Mr. Bridges had experienced so

far. Brain surgery was performed and the tumor was removed. After surgery, Mr. Bridges woke feeling

worse than he had at the beginning of his surgery, a common experience after brain surgery. Mr.

Bridges was advised to be more active the area of the brain that was performed on during surgery (the

motor strip) as this allows the recovery process to be even more successful. At present, Mr. Bridges

legs have recovered easier than his arms because the leg motor is higher on the motor cortex then the

arm control portion; thus, the tumors placement affected its function less than the arms. However, heis progressively recovering and there is high hope that Mr. Bridges will gain full capacity of all his

extremities in the future.