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Case Reports
. 2019 Jul 22:28:100913.
doi: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2019.100913. eCollection 2019.

A strange case of dyspnoea

Agostino Gaudio  1 , Andrea Ruben Murabito  1 , Anastasia Xourafa  1 , Federica Patanè  1 , Rosario Rapisarda  1 , Sergio Bagnato  2 , Pietro Castellino  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

A strange case of dyspnoea

Agostino Gaudio et al. Respir Med Case Rep. .

Abstract

Acquired neuralgic amyotrophy, described for the first time by Parsonage and Turner, is a rare idiopathic disease that may occur in otherwise normal healthy individuals. It typically begins with sudden, unilateral shoulder pain that may also involve the neck and/or arm. Less frequently, the disease involves nerves other than those of the brachial plexus, such as phrenic nerves, resulting in dyspnoea. The diagnosis is based on the clinical presentation and is generally supported by electroneurography/electromyography. We report the case of a 45-year-old white man who was referred to our clinic for acute dyspnoea preceded by severe neck and right shoulder pain. Corticosteroid therapy ameliorated the clinical picture, but without a complete recovery.

Keywords: Dyspnoea; Neuralgic amyotrophy; Parsonage-turner syndrome.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
A) Chest X-ray showing right hemidiaphragm elevation. B) Electroneurography of both phrenic nerves showing an increased duration of the right compound muscle action potential.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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