Unilateral Abducens Nerve Palsy with Ipsilateral Horner’s Syndrome as an Initial Manifestation of Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

ABSTRACT

A 62-year-old man was admitted to our clinic with a two-week history of double vision. Neuro-ophthalmological examination showed a left abducens nerve palsy with an ipsilateral Horner’s syndrome. Neuro-imaging identified recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma explaining the clinical findings. Co-existence of unilateral abducens nerve palsy and ipsilateral Horner’s syndrome is very rare and localises to the posterior cavernous sinus. Therefore, clinicians should be aware of this rare co-existence and perform appropriate neuro-imaging to clarify the underlying aetiology.

KEYWORDS:

• Abducens nerve palsy
• Horner’s syndrome
• internal carotid artery aneurysm
• nasopharyngeal carcinoma
• posterior cavernous sinus lesions

Author contributions

All authors contributed significantly to the creation of this manuscript; each fulfilled criteria as established by the ICMJE.

Declaration of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Patient consent and ethics statement

Authors obtained consent from the patients for publishing the photo.