Question

A 70-year-old woman has suffered attacks of sharp, stabbing pain on the right side of her nose, cheek, lower eyelid, upper lip, upper jaw, teeth and gums, lower jaw, teeth and gums and lower lip. Occasionally she has had severe, brief and stabbing pain felt as a headache around her right eye, forehead and upper eyelid. The pain often leaves her with uncontrollable facial twitching. These sudden attacks of pain last only a few seconds but seem to the patient.

This initial impression should include a brief discussion of the main anatomical structures implicated in the case, and how they may be connected to some of the symptoms presented in the case scenario. The initial impressions of the scenario may or may not change after collaboration in small groups. 3 differential diagnoses.

Answer 1

The symptoms suggest trigeminal neuralgia, with sinus headache, migraine headache, and tension headache as possible differential diagnoses.

Step-by-step explanation:

The symptoms described by the 70-year-old woman are consistent with a condition called trigeminal neuralgia, also known as tic douloureux. Trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by severe, sudden, and shooting pain in the areas supplied by the trigeminal nerve, which includes the nose, cheek, lower eyelid, upper lip, upper jaw, teeth and gums, lower jaw, teeth and gums, and lower lip. The condition is typically caused by compression or irritation of the trigeminal nerve root by a blood vessel.

Three differential diagnoses for the patient's symptoms could include sinus headache, migraine headache, and tension headache. Sinus headaches can cause pain in the cheeks and forehead, migraines are characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head, and tension headaches are triggered by muscle tension in the face and neck.