A Case Study on Differential Diagnosis of Episodic Left Arm Numbness.

According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death globally. Cardiac-related maladies are a common occurrence in emergency rooms across the United States. The most common symptoms of a myocardial infarction include pain or discomfort in the arms, left shoulder or elbows. Sometimes, what appears to be common, stereotypical symptoms could pose more than one diagnosis to a medical professional. This report describes the case of a 67-year-old male who presented to the emergency department with left arm numbness and syncopal episodes. He had a history of cardiac-related issues, which led to a concern for possible heart failure. Fortunately, an EEG was performed, revealing multiple right centroparietal dominant seizures.

A Case Study of Lance-Adams Syndrome.

Lance-Adams syndrome (LAS) was first described in 1963 by Lance and Adams, who cited four cases of posthypoxic action myoclonus. Since then, less than 150 cases have been reported world-wide. LAS differs from acute posthypoxic myoclonus, which usually occurs within twelve hours of the anoxic event, with the patient remaining in a deep coma with an extremely poor prognosis. Patients with LAS retain neurological function and develop myoclonus days or weeks after their hypoxic event. This report describes the case of a 64-year-old male who developed LAS following cardiac arrest. His progression from ICU to outpatient was followed through multiple electroencephalograms.