Tolosa-Hunt Syndrome

May 21, 2003

A new patient I am treating in clinic came in with an interesting case. The

following is from " the health library "

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Any suggestions on dealing with this neurological disorder? She mostly

suffers from eye pain, as well as ptosis of the left eye, and blurry vision (

she

also wears glasses). Her first bout came in Oct. of 2001(patient lives in NYC) ,

and this recent bout 2 weeks ago after a health scare for a family member.

It seems to be stress induced in her case.

Other symptoms she is experiencing:

fatigue, dry skin, asthma since childhood, allergies _to pollen stuffy, itchy

nose, irregular menstrual cycle- sometimes skips months at a time, comes

" when it wants to " .

tongue- pale, scalloped, trembling, slightly purple in center, with a thin,

dry white coat. Pulse rate is 64, with overall choppy pulses, being weaker in

the chi position.

I thank you for any suggestions.

Lauren

Tolosa-Hunt Syndrome is a rare neurological disorder characterized by severe

headaches and pain often preceding weakness and painful paralysis

(ophthalmoplegia) of certain eye muscles. Symptoms usually affect only one side

of the

head (unilateral). In most cases, affected individuals experience intense sharp

pain and paralysis of muscles around the eye. Symptoms subside without

intervention (spontaneous remission) and recur without a distinct pattern

(randomly).

In addition, affected individuals may exhibit paralysis (palsy) of certain

facial nerves and drooping of the upper eyelid (ptosis). Other symptoms may

include double vision, fever, chronic fatigue, headaches, a feeling that one's

surroundings are spinning (vertigo), pain in the joints (arthralgia), and/or

abnormal protrusion of one or both eyeballs (exophthalmos). The exact cause of

Tolosa-Hunt Syndrome is not known, but the disorder is thought to be associated

with inflammation of the areas behind the eyes (cavernous sinus and superior

orbital fissure). .

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