MUSCULAR PARALYSIS AND VENTILATORY FAILURE CAUSED BY HYPERKALAEMIA

Muscular paralysis and ventilatory failure caused by hyperkalaemia.

We report the history of a diabetic man presenting with hyperkalaemia and rapidly progressing muscular paralysis with severe respiratory embarrassment. His symptoms resolved rapidly with reduction of the serum potassium concentration. Similar cases have been reported previously but this is a problem that few will have encountered and is a diagnosis which should not be overlooked before artifici...

Neonatal diaphragmatic paralysis caused by chest drains.

A boy delivered at 32 weeks' gestation developed bilateral pneumothoraces that required multiple chest drains. He was dependent on the ventilator for 52 days because of bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis. Electrophysiological studies confirmed phrenic nerve damage. He eventually made a full recovery. It is likely that this damage was caused by the insertion of the chest drains.

Divergence paralysis caused by acute midbrain infarction.

A 41-year-old woman with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and dyslipidemia abruptly developed vertigo, truncal ataxia and divergence paralysis. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated the presence of infarction in the left superior paramedian mesencephalic artery involving the vicinity of the periaqueductal gray matter. The symptoms rapidly resolved under the administration of anti-p...

Acute renal failure and hyperkalaemia associated with cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors.

BACKGROUND The renal effects of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors have been incompletely elucidated, and acute renal failure (ARF) due to COX-2 inhibitors has been reported. METHODS In order to determine the causes of ARF and hyperkalaemia in five patients during COX-2 inhibitor therapy, we carefully analysed case studies of consecutive in-patients or out-patients referred to our Renal Divi...

Diaphragmatic paralysis due to spinal muscular atrophy.