Back Pain and Eyelid Drooling: A Rare Case of Horner Syndrome

Abstract

A compression or interruption of the oculosympathetic pathway is generally the cause of Horner syndrome. Different etiologies are usually considered, either in the central or in the peripheral nervous system. Horner syndrome due to a herniated cervical or dorsal disc seems to be an excedingly rare event, which is the diagnosis of the presented case. The patient is a 59-year-old woman with sudden onset of dorsal pain and right unilateral ptosis and slight miosis, along with numbness in the third, fourth and fifth fingers of the right hand, due to a D1-D2 herniated disc with associated spinal nerve root compression. An extensive investigation ruled out other possible etiologies. In conclusion, the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with Horner syndrome should include upper thoracic disk herniation.