Nerves of steal

Abstract

A 60 year-old woman with advanced kidney disease presented with one month of progressively worsening, sharp burning pain and decreased sensation in her left hand. Cold air exacerbated the pain. She noted decreasing ability to utilize her left fingers, a weakened grip and that the muscles in her hand looked smaller.Localized sensory and motor symptoms in a discrete region of a single limb suggest neuropathy. The lack of symptoms in the face or ipsilateral lower extremity would dissuade a clinician from considering central etiologies; the presence of neuropathic pain is uncommon for cortical lesions. The involvement of motor and sensory nerves indicates peripheral nerve involvement.The general approach to patients with peripheral neuropathy begins with identifying the neuropathy as a mononeuropathy (involving a single nerve), a polyneuropathy (symmetric involvement of multiple nerves) or a mononeuropathy multiplex (asymmetric involvement of multiple nerves). The patient, in this case, described subacute neuropathic pain, sensory loss, and weakness in her left hand in a distribution consistent with mononeuropathy or mononeuropathy multiplex.This patient could have carpal tunnel syndrome given its prevalence in patients with advanced renal disease. The differential diagnosis is broad, however, and includes ulnar mononeuropathy, nerve ischemia due to vasculitis or vasculopathy, lower cervical radiculopathy (though the patient does not describe neck or radicular pain), lower brachial plexopathy, and complex regional pain syndrome.The patient was diagnosed with advanced kidney disease one year ago when biopsy revealed focal segmental glomerulosclerosis secondary to lithium. Since her diagnosis, two grafts were placed in the left upper arm in anticipation of dialysis: the first, placed seven months prior to this admission, failed to mature; the second, placed one month prior to this admission, was complicated by bleeding at the fistula site and was not yet mature. Prior to this admission she had not required hemodialysis. Her past history included hypertension, dyslipidemia, hypothyroidism, secondary hyperparathyroidism, a remote history of cervical cancer (stage unknown, recent PAP smear negative), microcytosis and schizoaffective disorder. Her medications were furosemide, amlodipine, lisinopril, atenolol, atorThe approach to clinical conundrums by an expert clinician is revealed through presentation of an actual patient's case in an approach typical of morning report. Similar to patient care, sequential pieces of information are provided to the clinician who is unfamiliar with the case. The focus is on the thought processes of both the clinical team caring for the patient and the discussant. 342