Flail arm syndrome: a clinical variant of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
We describe a case of a 65-year old patient diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The clinical findings, with symmetric, predominantly proximal wasting and weakness of both arms (especially of the infra-, supraspinatus and deltoideus) leading to severe functional disability and contrasting with preserved independent ambulation and sparing of bulbar muscles, were consistent with the proposed criteria of the so-called flail arm syndrome. Based on our case we characterize the clinical features of flail arm syndrome and review the literature.
Department of Neurology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. aczaplinski@uhbs.ch
A
A
Czaplinski
A J
AJ
Steck
P M
PM
Andersen
M
M
Weber
D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications*; D001132:Arm / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male