Skip Navigation



QJM Advance Access published online on February 9, 2006
QJM, doi:10.1093/qjmed/hcl011
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
99/3/181    most recent
hcl011v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Alazami, M.
Right arrow Articles by Halperin, M.L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Alazami, M.
Right arrow Articles by Halperin, M.L.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Physicians. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: Journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Masterclasses in medicine

Unusual causes of hypokalaemia and paralysis

M. Alazami 1, S.-H. Lin 2, C.-J. Cheng 2, M.R. Davids 3, and M.L. Halperin 1 *

1 From the Division of Nephrology, St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
2 From the Renal Division, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)
3 From the Nephrology Unit and Department of Internal Medicine, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
M.L. Halperin, E-mail: mitchell.halperin{at}utoronto.ca


  Abstract

We demonstrate how the application of physiological principles may help to identify unusual causes of a very low plasma potassium (K+) concentration (PK) and paralysis. In the two patients described, the short time course of the illness suggested that there was an acute shift of K+ into cells. The combination of a low rate of excretion of K+, the absence of a metabolic acid-base disorder, and the fact that the clinical findings occurred very soon after a large intake of carbohydrate supported this impression. Surprisingly, the PK remained low for many hours after these stimuli to shift K+ into cells had abated. The missing link in this story was eventually provided by the attending medical team with the help of their mentor, Professor McCance.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.