Neuropsychological Evaluation - 2  ( Neurology)
Description:  A neuropsychological evaluation to assess neuropsychological factors, clarify areas of strength and weakness, and to assist in therapeutic program planning in light of episodes of syncope.

REASON FOR REFERRAL:  ,The patient was referred for a neuropsychological evaluation by Dr. X.  A comprehensive evaluation was requested to assess neuropsychological factors, clarify areas of strength and weakness, and to assist in therapeutic program planning in light of episodes of syncope.,BRIEF SUMMARY & IMPRESSIONS:,RELEVANT HISTORY:,Historical information was obtained from a review of available medical records and an interview with ,the patient.,The patient presented to Dr. X on August 05, 2008 as she had been recently hospitalized for prolonged episodes of syncope.  She was referred to Dr. X for diagnostic differentiation for possible seizures or other causes of syncope.  The patient reports an extensive neurological history.  Her mother used alcohol during her pregnancy with the patient.  In spite of exposure to alcohol in utero, the patient reported that she achieved "honors in school" and "looked smart."  She reported that she began to experience migraines at 11 years of age.  At 15 years of age, she reported that she was thought to have hydrocephalus.  She reported that she will frequently "bang her head against the wall" to relieve the pain.  The patient gave birth to her daughter at 17 years of age.  At 18 years of age, she received a spinal tap as a procedure to determine the cause of her severe headaches.  She reported, in 1995 to 1996 she experienced a severe head injury, as she was struck by a car as a pedestrian and "thrown two and a half city blocks."  The patient reported that she could recall before being hit, but could not recall the activities of that same day or the following day.  She reported that she had difficulty walking following this head injury, but received rehabilitation for approximately one month.  Her migraines became more severe following the head injury.  In 1998, she reportedly was experiencing episodes of syncope where she would experience a headache with photophobia, phonophobia, and flashing lights.  Following the syncope episode, she would experience some confusion.  These episodes reportedly were related to her donating plasma.,The patient also reported that her ex-husband stated that she frequently jerked and would shake in her sleep.  She reported that upon awakening, she would feel off balanced and somewhat confused.  These episodes diminished from 2002 to June 2008.  When making dinner, she suddenly dropped and hit the back of her head on refrigerator.  She reported that she was unconscious for five to six minutes.  A second episode occurred on July 20th when she lost consciousness for may be a full day.  She was admitted to Sinai Hospital and assessed by a neurologist.  Her EEG and head CT were considered to be completely normal.  She did not report any typical episodes during the time of her 36-hour EEG.  She reported that her last episode of syncope occurred prior to her being hospitalized.  She stated that she had an aura of her ears ringing, vision being darker and "tunnel vision" (vision goes smaller to a pinpoint), and she was "spazzing out" on the floor.  During these episodes, she reports that she cannot talk and has difficulty understanding.,The patient also reports that she has experienced some insomnia since she was 6 years old.  She reported that she was a heavy drinker until about 1998 or 1999 and that she would drink a gallon daily of Jack Daniel.  She stopped the use of alcohol and that time she experienced a suicide attempt.  In 2002, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was started on medication.  At the time of the neuropsychological evaluation, she had stopped taking her medicine as she felt that she was now in remission and could manage her symptoms herself.  The patient's medical history is also significant for postpartum depression.,The patient reported that she has been experiencing difficulty with cognitive abilities of attention/concentration, spelling, tangential and slow thinking, poor sequencing memory for events, and variable verbal memory.  She reported that she sometimes has difficulty understanding what people say, specifically she has difficulty understanding jokes.  She finds that she often has difficulty with expressing her thoughts, as she is very tangential.  She experiences episodes of not recalling what she was speaking of or remembering what activities she was trying to perform.  She reported that she had a photographic memory for directions.  She said that she experienced a great deal of emotional lability, but in general her personality has become more subdued.  At the present time, her daughter has now moved on to college.  The patient is living with her biological mother.  Although she is going through divorce, she reported that it was not really stressful.  She reported that she spends her day driving other people around and trying to be helpful to them.,At the time of the neuropsychological evaluation, the patient's medication included Ativan, Imitrex, Levoxyl, vitamin B12, albuterol metered dose inhaler as needed, and Zofran as needed.  (It should be noted that The patient by the time of the feedback on September 19, 2008 had resumed taking her Trileptal for bipolar disorder.).  The patient's familial medical history is significant for alcohol abuse, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.,TESTS ADMINISTERED:,Clinical Interview,Cognistat,Mattis Dementia Rating Scale,Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - III (WAIS-III),Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI),Selected Subtests from the Delis Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS),  Trail Making Test,  Verbal Fluency (Letter Fluency & Category Fluency),  Design Fluency,  Color-Word Interference Test,  Tower,Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST),Stroop Test,Color Trails,Trails A & B,Test of Variables of Attention,Multilingual Aphasia Examination II,  Token Test,  Sentence Repetition,  Visual Naming,  Controlled Oral Word Association,  Spelling Test,  Aural Comprehension,  Reading Comprehension,Boston Naming Test-2 (BNT-2),Animal Naming Test,The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI),The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Motor Coordination,The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Perception,Judgment Line Orientation,Grooved Pegboard,Purdue Pegboard,Finger Tapping Test,Rey Complex Figure,Wechsler Memory Scale -III (WMS-III),California Verbal Learning Test