ASSESSING NEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS

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Case Study Assignment: Assessing Neurological Symptoms

First Name Last Name

Institution

Professor

Submission Date

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Patient Information:

Initials: H.K.

Sex: Female

Age: 40 years

Race: European American

S.

Cc: “I have been having a headache.”

HPI: H.K., a 40-year-old European American woman, arrived at the clinic complaining of a

headache she had been suffering from for a week. She reported that the headache was located

across the forehead, and she described the headache as a feeling of pressure behind her eyes. She

reported that the headache is aggravated by bending forward and is relieved by acetaminophen.

She reported that the severity of the headache was 8/10 when it was worse, 4/10 after taking

acetaminophen, but currently, she rated it at 2/10. She reported that she had a “head cold” 3

weeks ago and thought it was getting better but currently the sinus symptoms have reoccurred

and they are even worse. She reported that she is unable to breathe through the nose due to the

pressure she feels behind the eyes, and she also has a history of postnasal drip. She reported that

Sudafed HCL which offers some relief but reported that the symptoms are worse in the morning.

She reported that she awakes in the morning with a headache, feels feverish at times, and she had

a loss of appetite and frequent sneezing. She added that she has concentration difficulty

especially when she is at work and she also feels very tired.

Medications:

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Oral Acetaminophen 500 mg as required

Oral Sudafed HCL 120 mg every 12 hours

Allergies: She has no known allergies

PMHx: The patient did not provide any major medical history, she has a history of ORIF for a

clavicle fracture, and she reported that her immunization history is up to date.

Soc & Substance Hx: She is a police officer who works with the Maryland police

department, her hobbies are baking and knitting. She is married and lives with her husband and

two children, she reported that she never operates her phone while driving and ensures she has

fastened the seatbelt. She reported that she takes a glass of wine daily and smokes shisha

occasionally when out with friends but denied using any recreational drugs.

Family Hx: She reported that her mother is deceased and she had congestive heart failure and

hypertension, the father is alive but he has asthma, diabetes, and testicular cancer. She reported

that her maternal grandparents died long ago in an accident while her paternal grandfather died

as a result of cardiac arrest and paternal grandmother is still alive but she has asthma, diabetes,

and hypertension.

ROS

GENERAL: She has a history of fatigue, fever, and appetite loss, but she denies experiencing

chills or having a sensitivity to cold or heat.

HEENT: Head: She has a history of headaches but denies experiencing lightheadedness or head

trauma. Eyes: She denies excessive tearing, sclera yellowness, visual disturbances, or eye

discharges. Ear: She disputes any ear discharge, ear pain, ringing in the ears, or hearing loss.

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Nose: She has a history of postnasal drip, sneezing, and nasal congestion but denies having

anosmia or epistaxis. Throat: She denies having a raspy voice, swallowing problems, or any

dental problems.

SKIN: She denies rashes, itchiness, or color changes.

CARDIOVASCULAR: She denies shortness of breath, palpitation, chest pain, or edema.

RESPIRATORY: She has a history of a nonproductive cough, chest pain, difficulty in breathing,

or fast breathing.

GASTROINTESTINAL: She admits to having lost her appetite in the past but claims not to have

experienced nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

NEUROLOGICAL: She admits to having experienced headaches in the past, but she claims not

to have experienced numbness, memory loss, seizures, tingling, or syncope.

MUSCULOSKELETAL: She denies back pains, joint stiffness, muscle weakness, or joint pain.

HEMATOLOGIC: She denies blood transfusion, easy bleeding, or bruising.

LYMPHATICS: She denies appendicectomy or enlarged nodes.

O.

VS: BP: 134/87, PR: 91, RR: 19, Temp- 97.3, O2 sat.- 98% on room air, Wt.– 146 lbs., Ht.- 5’8”,

BMI- 22.2 (Healthy).

GENERAL: She is a middle-aged woman who has decent nutrition, is neatly dressed, isn't

visibly upset, is cooperative, and is aware of people, time, and location.

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SKIN: Her skin is as per her ethnicity without any rashes, it is intact, while on palpation it is

warm and well perfused, and there is a normal skin turgor.

HEENT: Head: Untraumatized, evenly distributed hair, no scars or swelling, and no discomfort

or lumps upon touch. Eyes: Conjunctiva and sclera that are clear, no eye discharge, regular

extraocular motions, PERRLA, and normal visual acuity. Ears: Tympanic membranes are

transparent, gray, and not enlarged, a normal external ear, and the whisper test was successful.

Nose: Normal shape, septum not deviated, patent nares but she has nasal flaring, nasal mucosa is

erythematous and edematous and there is nasal discharge, while on palpation there was

tenderness on palpation of the frontal and ethmoidal sinuses. Throat: Moist and intact mucous

membranes, tonsils not enlarged, and normal dentation.

CARDIO: Upon inspection, there are no jugular vein engorgement, chest abnormalities, or lower

limb edema. There is no tenderness when the chest is palpated, and the peripheral pulses are all

palpable and have a typical rate and rhythm. Auscultation revealed S1 and S2 with no murmurs.

RESP: The chest, which moves in reaction to breathing, does not appear to have any scars,

abnormalities, or use of accessory muscles. The lungs were resonant and the chest expanded

evenly on both sides on palpation. On auscultation, the breath sounds are heard and distinct on

both sides.

GASTRO: Her abdomen moves in time with her breathing, and she appears to be free of scars

and peristalsis. While the abdomen becomes tympanic upon percussion, all quadrants have

characteristic bowel sounds. None of the quadrants show any soreness or organomegaly when

palpated deeply or superficially.

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NEURO: Her cranial nerves and senses are uninjured, she is attentive and focused, stands up

straight, cooperates, and all of her muscular groups are in a normal tone and power. She speaks

regularly with the appropriate volume and tone, has good short- and long-term memory, normal

reflexes, and senses.

MUSC: An examination revealed no visible defects, a regular walk, no missing digits or limbs,

and no inflamed joints. Every joint in her body has a normal range of motion, and palpating her

joints revealed no stiffness or soreness.

Diagnostic studies:

Allergy skin test

Total serum IgE

A.

Allergic rhinitis: According to Bousquet et al. (2020), allergic rhinitis is an atopic condition that

is characterized by symptoms of postnasal drip, nasal pruritis, nasal congestion, and clear

rhinorrhea. Seasonal or intermittent allergic rhinitis is marked by a running nose, sneezing, and

watery eyes, while the clinical signs of chronic allergic rhinitis include postnasal drip, ongoing

congestion, and obstruction. The clinical signs of the condition as similar, but the nasal discharge

is clear, and the patient also experiences irritation in the eyes and nose, which and both brought

on by an infection.

Acute sinusitis: An infection of the sinuses is usually present together with acute sinusitis, which

causes temporary sinus swelling (Wyler & Mallon, 2019). Nasal congestion, headaches, mucus

leakage, pressure in the ears, and fever are symptoms of acute sinusitis that are caused by a viral

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infection in the sinuses. The clinical signs are similar; however, this condition also includes a

pressure ache in the forehead that spreads to the neck.

Fungal sinusitis: According to Akhondi et al. (2022), the phrase "fungal sinusitis" is a broad term

used to describe several circumstances in which fungus may be the root of or contribute to nasal

and sinus inflammation. It is characterized by a terrible smell coming from the nose or a

diminished sense of smell, fever, sinus and nasal edema, nasal congestion, runny nose,

discomfort, tenderness, and pressure in the sinus region. Touching your cheeks or forehead could

hurt, and sinus headaches are also possible.

Infectious rhinitis: Liva et al. (2021) highlighted that viral rhinitis, also known as infectious

rhinitis, is a disorder in which a virus infects the nose and throat, causing the lining to become

inflamed. Postnasal drip, facial or dental pain, coughing, nasal congestion, and purulent

rhinorrhea, and these symptoms are its hallmarks.

Chronic rhinitis: Chronic rhinitis is characterized by recurring nasal obstruction or discharge that

doesn't go away on its own, and its symptoms are brought on by ongoing irritation or

inflammation of the nasal interior (Sedaghat et al., 2022). Common symptoms of chronic rhinitis

include runny nose, postnasal drip, mouth breathing, nasal congestion, sinus pressure, sinus

infections, throat soreness, and a persistent cough.

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References

Akhondi, H., Woldemariam, B., & Rajasurya, V. (2022). Fungal sinusitis. In StatPearls

[Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.

Bousquet, J., Anto, J. M., Bachert, C., Baiardini, I., Bosnic-Anticevich, S., Walter Canonica, G.,

... & Toppila-Salmi, S. (2020). Allergic rhinitis. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 6(1),

95.

Liva, G. A., Karatzanis, A. D., & Prokopakis, E. P. (2021). Review of rhinitis: classification,

types, pathophysiology. Journal of clinical medicine, 10(14), 3183.

Sedaghat, A. R., Kuan, E. C., & Scadding, G. K. (2022). Epidemiology of chronic rhinosinusitis:

prevalence and risk factors. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In

Practice, 10(6), 1395-1403.

Wyler, B., & Mallon, W. K. (2019). Sinusitis update. Emergency Medicine Clinics, 37(1), 41-54.

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