title: Difficult defaecation and/or faecal incontinence as a presenting feature of neurologic disorders in four patients.
abstract: We report four cases of difficult defaecation and/or faecal incontinence revealing a neurologic disease. These anorectal symptoms were associated with urinary disorders, but urinary symptoms always appeared several years after anorectal complaints. Clinical neurologic examination immediately led us to suspect a neurologic aetiology in two patients with the following signs: perineal hypoesthesia, absence of voluntary anal contraction and anal reflexes in one subject (final diagnosis: L1 neurinoma), and in the other a weakness in both thighs with absent tendon reflexes in the four limbs (final diagnosis: amiodarone neuropathy). In the two other patients with multiple cerebral infarction or multiple system atrophy, the neurologic aetiology was suspected on the absence of anal voluntary contraction contrasting with a normal perineal anatomy, but the final diagnosis was made only two years later when orthostatic arterial hypotension occurred.
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Biochimie et de Physiopathologie Digestive et Nutritionnelle, Centre Hospitalier Regional, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bardoux
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Leroi
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Touchais
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Denis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003248:Constipation / Q000209:etiology*; D005242:Fecal Incontinence / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*