Parsonage-Turner syndrome: a firsthand experience of an uncommon malady

Parsonage Turner Syndrome (syn. idiopathic brachial plexopathy, neurologic amyotrophy) is a rare syndrome of poorly understood etiology with a reported incidence of 1.64 in 1 lakh persons per year. It affects men more often than women with a highest incidence in the third and seventh decades of life. Its pathophysiology is obscure and the syndrome has been reported in the postoperative, post infectious and recent viral illness, and post-vaccination settings. Trauma from manipulation of tissues and various positioning techniques used to facilitate surgical techniques, or immune-mediated inflammation remains the most common associated risk factor. It mostly remains under diagnosed for lack of clinical suspicion and specific diagnostic tools. Herein, we share a personal experience of this uncommon disorder by the first author, a healthy 67-year-old man, having no significant medical or surgical disorder and presenting with several weeks of weakness of right shoulder. The diagnosis was made after its aggravation following stretch injury sustained from a fall with upper limbs in full abduction. Treatment with high dose dexamthasone (100 mg in 200 ml 5% dextrose given once by slow i.v. infusion), NSAIDs (as needed) and physiotherapy given over 12 months was remittive.