CASE REPORT
Copyright © 2018 The Korean Society of Neurosonology
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https://doi.org/10.31728/jnn.2018.00011
Sarcoidosis is a multiorgan granulomatous disease of
unknown cause. It can involve various organs, such as
the lungs, eyes, skin, and lymph nodes, and the nervous
system.
1
Neurosarcoidosis presents in approximately
5-15% of patients with sarcoidosis,
2,3
and cranial neu-
ropathy is the most common neurological complica-
tion of sarcoidosis.
4
Facial nerve palsy is the most com-
mon cranial neuropathy in neurosarcoidosis,
4
and optic
nerve, vestibulocochlear nerve, and trigeminal nerve
involvement have also been reported.
3
Neurosarcoidosis can manifest in different fashions
and reaching a diagnosis may be complicated especially
if it presents with rare clinical symptoms.
2,5
Here, we
present a case of neurosarcoidosis that presented with
isolated oculomotor nerve palsy.
CASE REPORT
A 75-year-old woman presented with right eye ptosis
and diplopia, which had progressed over 2 months. In
her past medical history, she had been admitted to the
rheumatology department of our hospital in October
2016 due to a subcutaneous nodule around the left me-
dial malleolus. She also had the respiratory symptom of
dyspnea, and fatigue. On the chest X-ray, a pulmonary
nodule was seen in right upper lobe. She underwent
biopsy of the subcutaneous nodule during the admis-
sion, which found a granuloma with multinucleated
giant cells. Systemic sarcoidosis was suspected; there-
fore, she was prescribed 2 mg methylprednisolone and
300 mg hydroxychloroquine daily. She also had a past
medical history of hypertension, osteoporosis, idio-
pathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and Ramsay-Hunt
syndrome 6 years ago. She had left peripheral type
facial palsy and hypesthesia in the left chin (V3 area) as
sequelae of Ramsay-Hunt syndrome from 6 years ago.
She did not have any history of diabetes mellitus, tuber-
culosis, stroke, or head trauma.
On neurological examination, the pupil of her right
Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease. Neurosarcoidosis occurs in
approximately 5-15% of patients with systemic sarcoidosis. Since neurosarcoid-
osis can manifest in different fashions, diagnosis is sometimes difficult. Here, we
present a case of 75-year-old woman with oculomotor neuropathy involving the
pupil who had a history of systemic sarcoidosis. We excluded compressive causes
of oculomotor neuropathy, such as aneurysm of the posterior communicating
artery. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed enhancement and thickening
of the right oculomotor nerve, implying inflammation. Considering the potential
for neurosarcoidosis in right oculomotor nerve, we administered high-dose cor-
ticosteroid therapy and the patient’s clinical symptom and neuroimaging finding
improved. Isolated oculomotor nerve palsy in neurosarcoidosis is rare, and this is
the first documented case of oculomotor nerve palsy involving the pupil in Korea.
We suggest that it is important to recognize inflammatory causes of oculomotor
nerve palsy, such as neurosarcoidosis, even in cases that involve the pupil.
J Neurosonol Neuroimag 2018;10(2):158-161
Key Words: Sarcoidosis; Cranial nerve diseases; Oculomotor nerve diseases
Neurosarcoidosis Presenting with Isolated Oculomotor Nerve Palsy
Hye-Rim Shin, Il-Yeon Choo, Eun Young Kim, Yong Woo Shin, Hyung-Min Kwon
Department of Neurology, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Address for correspondence:
Hyung-Min Kwon
Department of Neurology,
SMG-SNU Boramae Medical
Center, Seoul National Uni-
versity College of Medicine, 20
Boramae-ro 5-gil, Dongjak-gu,
Seoul 07061, Korea
Tel: +82-2-870-2475
Fax: +82-2-831-2826
E-mail: hmkwon@snu.ac.kr
Received: July 11, 2018
Revised: August 22, 2018
Accepted: August 28, 2018
JNN