Susana is 36 now , mother of two children , and she works every day in a hairdresser. But, sixteen years ago things were different. Suddenly, a few days after her 20th birthday, she was unable tomove her right leg and arm, and at the same time, her eyes were not normal, she couldn´t see the complete visual field, some black spots were disseminated around the images. On the way to the hospital, she suffered a seizure, but the ambulance could reach the Emergency Department (ED) on time.
Her blood tests were normal and a brain CT scan only showed mild cortical changes on her left side compatible with microinfarction, some of them located around the “corpus callosum”. She was treated with heparin, prednisone and antiepileptic drugs and she was transferred to the Neurology Department, without a clear diagnosis.
The curious diagnostician
The next day the neurologist, a man in his late fifties, notice a difficulty to communicate with Susana, and he has to speak to her with a louder voice than usual, but she was fine, alert, fully recovered without a motor impairment. Her visual field was still with some black spots, but she was also improving her vision. When the doctor decides to reduce the dose of prednisone (a corticoid) Susana felt again some difficulty to move her right side and she noticed more black spots on her visual field, and then Dr. Beretz decided to reduce the dose of corticoid in a very slow way. Although Susana was clearly improving, she had not yet a name or category for her disease one week after her admission.
The ones who put things together are called wise
Dr. Beretz had two good habits for a doctor: compassion to help a young woman and a special taste for detective novels such as the ones from Agatha Christie and her main character, the detective Hercules Poirot. He had the reasoning for the “mechanism” of the disease, some microinfarction scattered around the brain, the same retinal infarction and hearing loss, but no name came to his mind. Suddenly something triggered an old image, he saw himself travelling as a young doctor across Florida, remembering the manglers, the alligators, the time that he spent there studying Neurology, and then the name of the syndrome shined inside his brain. Now he could help Susana with a better treatment, now he knew that a recurrence or several were possible, but also that, after the first five years, patients could have a normal life. Now, Susana works normally, she is a beautiful woman and every time that I have a haircut I remember her fight against the disease, and I am grateful for her confidence to tell me her story.
This syndrome, named for Dr. John Susac (1940–2012), of Winter Haven, Florida, who first described it in 1979, is considered a “rare disease” because only 300 people has been diagnosed around the world since the first description in 1979. The good thing is that with an early diagnosis the treatment with anticoagulant, prednisone, and sometimes immunoglobulin, can help to stop the development of more symptoms. A mild residual hearing loss is the only permanent symptom for Susana now.
Bibliography:
Kleffner I et al. Diagnostic criteria for Susac syndrome.
Para ofrecer las mejores experiencias, utilizamos tecnologías como las cookies para almacenar y/o acceder a la información del dispositivo. El consentimiento de estas tecnologías nos permitirá procesar datos como el comportamiento de navegación o las identificaciones únicas en este sitio. No consentir o retirar el consentimiento, puede afectar negativamente a ciertas características y funciones.
Funcional Always active
El almacenamiento o acceso técnico es estrictamente necesario para el propósito legítimo de permitir el uso de un servicio específico explícitamente solicitado por el abonado o usuario, o con el único propósito de llevar a cabo la transmisión de una comunicación a través de una red de comunicaciones electrónicas.
Preferencias
El almacenamiento o acceso técnico es necesario para la finalidad legítima de almacenar preferencias no solicitadas por el abonado o usuario.
Estadísticas
El almacenamiento o acceso técnico que es utilizado exclusivamente con fines estadísticos.El almacenamiento o acceso técnico que se utiliza exclusivamente con fines estadísticos anónimos. Sin un requerimiento, el cumplimiento voluntario por parte de tu Proveedor de servicios de Internet, o los registros adicionales de un tercero, la información almacenada o recuperada sólo para este propósito no se puede utilizar para identificarte.
Marketing
El almacenamiento o acceso técnico es necesario para crear perfiles de usuario para enviar publicidad, o para rastrear al usuario en una web o en varias web con fines de marketing similares.
