Neurol. praxi. 2017;18(1):54-57 | DOI: 10.36290/neu.2017.063

Recurrent cranial neuropathy

MUDr. Sandra Kurčová¹, prof. MUDr. Egon Kurča, PhD.², MUDr. Michaela Kaiserová, Ph.D.¹, prof. MUDr. Petr Kaňovský, CSc.¹

1Neurologická klinika LF UP a FN, Olomouc, 2Neurologická klinika JLF a UNM, Martin

Recurrent cranial neuropathy is a relatively rare disease characterized by repeated remissions and relapses of cranial nerve palsies.

Its underlying aetiology may involve a primary intracranial process, but it can also be a manifestation of a systemic disease, such as

diabetes mellitus, autoimmune hypothyroidism, sarcoidosis, or paraproteinaemia. In the majority of cases, however, its aetiology

and pathogenesis remain unexplained. We present a case of a 46-year-old female patient who, during the course of six months,

gradually developed two peripheral facial nerve palsies and two abducens nerve palsies. We failed to elucidate the aetiology of this

pathological process with the paraclinical tests we used. The cranial nerve palsies responded promptly to corticosteroid treatment.

The aim of this paper is to highlight this relatively controversial clinical entity and its very heterogeneous differential diagnosis.

Keywords: cranial nerve palsy, differential diagnosis, pathogenesis

Published: March 1, 2017  Show citation