Bilateral Lower Extremity Paralysis in a Caucasian Male Presenting to the Emergency Department

Reported is a case of a 39-year-old Caucasian man who presented to the emergency department with sudden onset bilateral lower extremity paralysis after consuming a large amount of carbohydrates and alcohol. A CT, MRI, and lumbar puncture were performed with negative results; lab results showed hyper...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Case reports in emergency medicine 2018, Vol.2018 (2018), p.1-3
Main Authors: Bao, Shunzhong S., Rapp, Richard, Ganesan, Vishwanath C., Bao, Yicheng K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol use
Carbohydrates
Cardiac arrhythmia
Case Report
Case reports
Emergency medical care
Emergency service
Health aspects
Hospitals
Hyperthyroidism
Insulin
Job stress
Meals
Mens health
Methimazole
Middle age
Paralysis
Substance abuse treatment
Thyroid diseases
Thyroid gland
White people
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Summary:Reported is a case of a 39-year-old Caucasian man who presented to the emergency department with sudden onset bilateral lower extremity paralysis after consuming a large amount of carbohydrates and alcohol. A CT, MRI, and lumbar puncture were performed with negative results; lab results showed hyperthyroidism and hypokalemia. The patient was diagnosed with thyrotoxic periodic paralysis. In a patient presenting with sudden onset paralysis and hypokalemia, the emergency physician should include thyrotoxic periodic paralysis in the differential diagnosis and focus on treating and working up the hypokalemia instead of the paralysis.
ISSN:2090-648X
2090-6498
DOI:10.1155/2018/5740509