Diagnostic evaluation of post-polio syndrome in an elderly patient with weakness and fatigue required extensive workup to exclude other age-related comorbidities.
Case Report (n=1)
Diagnosing post-polio syndrome in elderly patients requires extensive workup to exclude other age-related etiologies for weakness and fatigue.
Poliomyelitis is a disorder of the nervous system caused by an enterovirus. There are many survivors who, years later, develop a little-understood condition called Post-polio syndrome. Post-polio syndrome is a group of delayed sequalae of polio infection that can cause paralysis and bulbar symptoms in patients with a history of polio infection who have had a prolonged symptom-free period, often greater than two decades. Diagnosis of post-polio syndrome is difficult in the geriatric population because many of the symptoms overlap with other disease processes affecting older individuals. An extensive workup is necessary to exclude more concerning etiologies. Furthermore, several symptoms can be attributed to normal ageing. We present the case of an elderly patient with a history of poliomyelitis and multiple comorbidities who presented with complaints of weakness and fatigue.
Amole et al. (Sun,) conducted a case report in Post-Polio Syndrome (n=1). Diagnostic evaluation of post-polio syndrome in an elderly patient with weakness and fatigue required extensive workup to exclude other age-related comorbidities.