An Unusual Triad in Pediatric Neurology: A Case Report on Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Child Neurol Open. 2016 Apr 19:3:2329048X16642948. doi: 10.1177/2329048X16642948. eCollection 2016 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

We present a case of an unusual triad in pediatric neurology: a currently 12-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and epilepsy who was later also diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. We describe the clinical path that resulted in this exceptional diagnosis. This case report illustrates how different neurological disorders may overshadow each other. In addition, it demonstrates that every child with cerebral palsy and either an atypical clinical course or with inexplicable laboratory values-as well as every infant boy born to a theoretical Duchenne muscular dystrophy carrier-should be subjected to additional investigations.

Keywords: Duchenne muscular dystrophy; cerebral palsy; diagnostic overshadowing; dystrophin; epilepsy.