ISSN 2167-0404
International Journal of Medicine and Medical Science ISSN: 2167-0404 Vol. 3 (8), pp. 001-003, October, 2013. © International Scholars Journals
Case Report
An interesting cause of dysphagia in a patient with parkinson’s disease
1Dr. Shaikh Mohammed Aslam S and 2Dr. Mahindra JV
1Department of Medicine M. S. Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore 560054, India.
2Department of Neurology M. S. Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore 560054, India.
*Corresponding Author. Email: [email protected]
Accepted 07 October, 2013
Abstract
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder and dysphagia is a frequent symptom of Parkinson’s disease. We report a case of 61 year old male who presented with history of dysphagia, dysarthria, and diplopia of 6 weeks duration. He was a known case of Parkinson’s disease for the past one year and was on levodopa. On examination he had bilateral ptosis and jaw weakness. Neostigmine test and acetylcholine receptor antibodies were positive. Repetitive nerve stimulation test was positive for decremental response. Hence diagnosis of myasthenia gravis was made. Dysphagia is a common manifestation of advanced parkinson’s disease. But in patients in whom dysphagia does not improve with levodopa, one should keep possibilities of other etiologies for dysphagia in their mind and work up should be done to rule out other etiologies. We report this case to highlight a rare occurrence of Parkinson’s disease with myasthenia gravis.
Key words: Parkinson’s disease, myasthenia gravis, dysphagia, levodopa, dysarthria.