Friday, September 08, 2006

Old lady with ptosis


67 y relatively healthy white woman presents to the ER with progressive Lt temporal headache over the last 7 to 10 days followed by Lt eye ptosis that she noticed on the day of presentation. Exam shows profound Lt eye ptosis and restricted extraocular movements without pupillary involvement. Which of the following is the correct statement?

1. The lesion has spared the oculomotor nerve nucleus- ANSWER.
2. Instilling topical cocaine in the eyes will confirm the suspected diagnosis.
3. Unilateral ptosis makes the diagnosis of ocular myasthenia gravis unlikely.
4. Patient has Kearns- Sayre syndrome
5. Efficacy of steroids has been demonstrated through several randomized placebo-controlled studies.