BIOGRAPHY
Suzanne Busch dual trained in Geriatric and Internal medicine completing her FRACP training in 1999. After initially working in Auckland Geriatric Medicine departments she took the plunge and moved to Wairau Hospital to be a true generalist in 2004. For the past 6 years she has found herself undertaking neurology clinics in Nelson hospital. While mainly concentrating on neurodegenerative diseases and stroke she has collected and enjoyed a number of patients with complex functional neurological conditions. She is not an academic with a long list of publications but enjoys the day to day work of practicing medicine in a small hospital. ABSTRACT Getting You head Around Functional Weakness
Functional neurological symptoms represent a significant proportion of neurology outpatient work and often present acutely to hospital. They can coexist with neurological organic disease or be an entity of their own. The diagnosis is made on the basis of recognition that symptoms and examination findings are both internally inconsistent and incongruent with any recognizable neurological disease. It is not a diagnosis of exclusion however and there are many positive examination findings that aid in the diagnosis. Case based examples of history and examination techniques to diagnose functional weakness and tremor will be reviewed. Patients with functional neurological symptoms can have similar disability long term to those with organic disease. A significant part of management of these conditions includes how the diagnosis is communicated with the patient and their general practitioner. Techniques for approaching this will be discussed in a practical talk, for the generalist, from a generalist. |
