Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis associated with multiple sleep onset REM periods

Sleep. 1999 Dec 15;22(8):1123-4. doi: 10.1093/sleep/22.8.1123.

Abstract

A 24-year-old man with sporadic hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HPP) presented with moderate excessive daytime sleepiness and transitory episodes of weakness which occurred during and after sleep. Multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) demonstrated the presence of five sleep onset REM periods (SOREMPs) and a sleep latency of five minutes. Treatment with a diuretic which decreases serum potassium resolved all the clinical symtomps and a new MSLT showed the absence of SOREMPs and a sleep latency of 13.5 minutes. To our knowledge, the patient herein reported is the first case that associates sleep abnormalities and multiple SOREMPs with HPP. Furthermore, the present case suggests that SOREMPs may be explained by an increased extracellular potassium conductance related to HPP.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Diuretics
  • Humans
  • Hydrochlorothiazide / therapeutic use
  • Hyperkalemia / complications*
  • Hyperkalemia / diagnosis
  • Hyperkalemia / drug therapy
  • Male
  • Paralysis / diagnosis
  • Paralysis / etiology*
  • Periodicity
  • Potassium / blood
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / complications*
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / diagnosis
  • Sleep, REM / physiology*
  • Sodium Chloride Symporter Inhibitors / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Diuretics
  • Sodium Chloride Symporter Inhibitors
  • Hydrochlorothiazide
  • Potassium