Helen Cohen

A case of complex regional pain syndrome with agnosia for object orientation

&NA; This systematic investigation of the neurocognitive correlates of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in a single case also reports agnosia for object orientation in the context of persistent CRPS. We report a patient (JW) with severe long‐standing CRPS who had no difficulty identifying and naming line drawings of objects presented in 1 of 4 cardinal orientations. In contrast, he was extremely poor at reorienting these objects into the correct upright orientation and in judging whether an object was upright or not. Moreover, JW made orientation errors when copying drawings of objects, and he also showed features of mirror reversal in writing single words and reading single letters. The findings are discussed in relation to accounts of visual processing. Agnosia for object orientation is the term for impaired knowledge of an object’s orientation despite good recognition and naming of the same misoriented object. This defect has previously only been reported in patients with major structural brain lesions. The neuroanatomical correlates are discussed. The patient had no structural brain lesion, raising the possibility that nonstructural reorganisation of cortical networks may be responsible for his deficits. Other patients with CRPS may have related neurocognitive defects. Complex regional pain syndrome with agnosia for object orientation is a rare neurocognitive deficit that severely affects the performance of daily activities. We report a case of a patient with this disorder who had no structural brain lesion, raising the possibility that nonstructural reorganisation of cortical networks may be responsible for his deficits.

Don’t put your foot in it: a case of talonavicular septic arthritis

We present the second documented case of primary septic arthritis of the talonavicular joint. This patient had a number of medical comorbidities, including chronic widespread pain including the ipsilateral limb, which made diagnosis an even greater challenge. Although a clinical diagnosis, joint fluid aspiration remains the gold standard. Prompt surgical drainage with adjuvant antibiotic treatment is recommended, and management requires a multidisciplinary team approach. The aim of treatment is to avoid the sequelae of joint destruction, pain and foot deformity.