A Literature Review on Thyrotoxic Periodic Paralysis.

Qasim Z Iqbal,Saud Bin Abdul Sattar,Zeeshan Zia,Muhammad Niazi

doi:10.7759/cureus.10108

Abstract

Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) is a rare disease of the muscles that presents with painless weakness of the muscles. The patients usually have hypokalemia and hyperthyroidism with elevations in the level of triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). The muscle weakness is usually transient, and the patients in many cases suffer from recurrent episodes of muscle paralysis. This flaccid muscle paralysis predominantly affects the proximal and lower extremities group of muscles more than the distal and upper extremity muscles. This condition is one of the drastic complications of Graves's disease and, unfortunately, may require admission and treatment in the critical care units. It is often not recognized during the initial attack in the American population as the prevalence is very low among the Caucasian population and people from North America. However, while the prevalence is extremely low in the Caucasian population, it is known to be 10 times more common among the Asian population when compared with the Caucasian population. Furthermore, while the diseases of the thyroid gland are more common in females, this rare disease predominantly affects male sex. It is treated by reversing the hypokalemia, which can in itself prove to be fatal if not corrected quickly, and this is followed by treatment to restore the euthyroid state. A literature review on this reversible cause of muscle weakness is very important to better understand this disease.

Highlights

BackgroundThyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) is a rare disease of the muscles
TPP is a rare disease of muscles that presents with acute painless weakness of muscles predominantly affecting the proximal and lower extremity muscles
It is usually found in patients with hypokalemia and hyperthyroidism

Summary

Introduction

Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) is a rare disease of the muscles It presents with acute painless weakness of the muscles. The patients affected usually have both hypokalemia and hyperthyroidism This muscle weakness is found to be more severe in the proximal muscles and in the lower extremities. TPP is often not recognized at first attack due to a very low prevalence among the Caucasian population and since it is usually associated with mild symptoms of hyperthyroidism [1] This disease is found to be more common among the Asian population. There is no evidence of the benefit of using potassium supplements prophylactically to avoid TPP episodes

Conclusions

Findings

Disclosures