Clinical Case of Atypical Botulism with Pseudointernuclear Ophthalmoplegia Syndrome

Botulism is a rare cause of bulbar and oculomotor syndromes. A late diagnosis and, therefore, late initiation of specific therapy may lead to multiple life-threatening complications. Epidemiological history and clinical findings are key to the correct diagnosis, but if these data are not available d...

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Main Authors: Alexander Yu. Kazantsev, Irina V. Nikolaeva, Irina F. Khafizova, Bulat Sh. Fatkullin, Julia M. Sozinova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Research Center of Neurology 2024-10-01
Series:Анналы клинической и экспериментальной неврологии
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Online Access:https://annaly-nevrologii.com/journal/pathID/article/viewFile/998/pdf
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author Alexander Yu. Kazantsev
Irina V. Nikolaeva
Irina F. Khafizova
Bulat Sh. Fatkullin
Julia M. Sozinova
author_facet Alexander Yu. Kazantsev
Irina V. Nikolaeva
Irina F. Khafizova
Bulat Sh. Fatkullin
Julia M. Sozinova
author_sort Alexander Yu. Kazantsev
collection DOAJ
description Botulism is a rare cause of bulbar and oculomotor syndromes. A late diagnosis and, therefore, late initiation of specific therapy may lead to multiple life-threatening complications. Epidemiological history and clinical findings are key to the correct diagnosis, but if these data are not available due to atypical clinical findings, botulism identification is challenging. In our clinical case, a 31-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with double vision, impaired eye movements, and difficulty swallowing rapidly developing for 2 days. Ocular motility dysfunction included disturbed conjugate eye movements. In young patients, this is most often caused by demyelinating disease with medial (posterior) longitudinal fasciculus damage and symmetrical bilateral ptosis. The patient denied eating foods that could cause botulism and did not have any gastrointestinal symptoms. Differential diagnoses included demyelinating disease onset and Miller–Fisher syndrome. The next morning, completely identical clinical signs appeared in the patient’s mother who had eaten canned mushrooms, so botulism was suspected. Over the next few hours, despite the administration of anti-botulinum serum, acute respiratory failure developed, and the patient was placed on a ventilator for 28 days. The patient and his mother were discharged in a satisfactory condition, and their symptoms completely resolved within a few months. The diagnosis of botulism was confirmed by toxicological examination.
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spelling doaj-art-98bd6dc18d0545faba5cd42b6aab3f3c2025-08-20T02:12:42ZengResearch Center of NeurologyАнналы клинической и экспериментальной неврологии2075-54732409-25332024-10-0118310310810.17816/ACEN.998699Clinical Case of Atypical Botulism with Pseudointernuclear Ophthalmoplegia SyndromeAlexander Yu. Kazantsev0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9800-9940Irina V. Nikolaeva1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0104-5895Irina F. Khafizova2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2561-7456Bulat Sh. Fatkullin3https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3505-2166Julia M. Sozinova4https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0126-8808Kazan State Medical UniversityKazan State Medical UniversityClinical center “Neuroclinic of Professor Yakupov”Republican Clinical Infectious Hospital named by Professor A.F. AgafonovRepublican Clinical Infectious Hospital named by Professor A.F. AgafonovBotulism is a rare cause of bulbar and oculomotor syndromes. A late diagnosis and, therefore, late initiation of specific therapy may lead to multiple life-threatening complications. Epidemiological history and clinical findings are key to the correct diagnosis, but if these data are not available due to atypical clinical findings, botulism identification is challenging. In our clinical case, a 31-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with double vision, impaired eye movements, and difficulty swallowing rapidly developing for 2 days. Ocular motility dysfunction included disturbed conjugate eye movements. In young patients, this is most often caused by demyelinating disease with medial (posterior) longitudinal fasciculus damage and symmetrical bilateral ptosis. The patient denied eating foods that could cause botulism and did not have any gastrointestinal symptoms. Differential diagnoses included demyelinating disease onset and Miller–Fisher syndrome. The next morning, completely identical clinical signs appeared in the patient’s mother who had eaten canned mushrooms, so botulism was suspected. Over the next few hours, despite the administration of anti-botulinum serum, acute respiratory failure developed, and the patient was placed on a ventilator for 28 days. The patient and his mother were discharged in a satisfactory condition, and their symptoms completely resolved within a few months. The diagnosis of botulism was confirmed by toxicological examination.https://annaly-nevrologii.com/journal/pathID/article/viewFile/998/pdfbotulismmyasthenia gravisbulbar syndromeinternuclear ophthalmoplegiaptosismiller–fisher syndrome
spellingShingle Alexander Yu. Kazantsev
Irina V. Nikolaeva
Irina F. Khafizova
Bulat Sh. Fatkullin
Julia M. Sozinova
Clinical Case of Atypical Botulism with Pseudointernuclear Ophthalmoplegia Syndrome
Анналы клинической и экспериментальной неврологии
botulism
myasthenia gravis
bulbar syndrome
internuclear ophthalmoplegia
ptosis
miller–fisher syndrome
title Clinical Case of Atypical Botulism with Pseudointernuclear Ophthalmoplegia Syndrome
title_full Clinical Case of Atypical Botulism with Pseudointernuclear Ophthalmoplegia Syndrome
title_fullStr Clinical Case of Atypical Botulism with Pseudointernuclear Ophthalmoplegia Syndrome
title_full_unstemmed Clinical Case of Atypical Botulism with Pseudointernuclear Ophthalmoplegia Syndrome
title_short Clinical Case of Atypical Botulism with Pseudointernuclear Ophthalmoplegia Syndrome
title_sort clinical case of atypical botulism with pseudointernuclear ophthalmoplegia syndrome
topic botulism
myasthenia gravis
bulbar syndrome
internuclear ophthalmoplegia
ptosis
miller–fisher syndrome
url https://annaly-nevrologii.com/journal/pathID/article/viewFile/998/pdf
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