Hyperexcitable Blink Reflex Preceding the Diagnosis of Neuroblastoma.
The diagnosis of neuroblastoma is sometimes preceded by development of a paraneoplastic syndrome, most commonly opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia (OMA). The authors describe a patient who developed a hyperexcitable blink reflex, without symptoms of OMA, prior to his oncologic diagnosis. The authors believe this may represent a distinct paraneoplastic process caused by increased dopaminergic stimulation of the blink reflex and suggest that children manifesting an unexplained hyperexcitable blink reflex should be screened for occult neuroblastoma.
From the *Department of Psychiatry, Kansas University-Wichita, Wichita, Kansas; and the †Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin.
Mohamed
M
Ramadan
Bonny
B
Whalen
Kenneth
K
De Santes