TY - JOUR T1 - Acute camptocormia as the presenting symptom of tetanus JF - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry JO - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry SP - 936 LP - 937 DO - 10.1136/jnnp-2013-306743 VL - 85 IS - 8 AU - Seiji Kaji AU - Hidehiro Shibayama AU - Susumu Sato AU - Toshio Fukutake Y1 - 2014/08/01 UR - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/85/8/936.abstract N2 - Opisthotonus is one of the representative presenting symptoms seen among patients with tetanus, as well as pain, stiffness, rigidity and spasms.1 We report an unusual case of tetanus with camptocormia as the initial symptom. A 77-year-old female farmer with unremarkable medical history arrived at our hospital due to difficulty in swallowing and a dropped head which were noticed 4 days prior to the visit. On examination at arrival, she had camptocormia with increased tonus of rectus abdominis muscle. She also had hoarseness in speech and mild limitation in opening her mouth. No wound was observed. On laryngoscopy, saliva was pooling around the epiglottis with decreased mobility. Therefore, she was admitted to the intensive care unit. On the 4th day of admission, her trismus deteriorated rapidly. With a tentative diagnosis of tetanus, she was given tetanus vaccine and human … ER -