- The “Blood Can Be Very, Very Bad” mnemonic should be utilized to systematically review any brain CT (Blood, Cisterns, Brain, Ventricles, Vessels, Bone).
- The reflex exam is an essential part of the motor exam (especially when the differential diagnosis includes both a polyneuropathy and a myelopathy) as the presence of hyperreflexia will suggest a myelopathy, while hyporeflexia will suggest a polyneuropathy.
- In someone with a sudden onset of diminished mental status and bilateral weakness, an acute basilar occlusion must be included in the differential diagnosis.
- Both spinal cord compression and a polyneuropathy are frequently heralded by paresthesias, so these processes should always be acknowledged in a patient presenting with bilateral paresthesias.