Open AccessA Rare Case of Hypokalemia Induced Rhabdomyolysis Secondary to Gitelman Syndrome: An Easily Overlooked Inherited Tubulopathy
Author(s) -
Richmond Ronald Gomes,
Diapankar Kumar Basak,
Akmat Ali
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.121
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 2075-5384
pISSN - 1997-9797
DOI - 10.3329/jom.v21i2.50215
Subject(s) - hypokalemia , medicine , rhabdomyolysis , hypomagnesemia , metabolic alkalosis , gitelman syndrome , hypocalciuria , tubulopathy , bartter syndrome , electrolyte disorder , acute kidney injury , oliguria , gastroenterology , tetany , pediatrics , kidney , hyponatremia , renal function , materials science , magnesium , metallurgy
Hypokalemia is a common clinical problem in endocrinologists’ and nephrologists’ practice. There are many obvious causes of hypokalemia such as diarrhea, vomiting or diuretics abuse. Other causes such as tubulopathies are rarely observed and their diagnosis is more challenging. There are many inherited and acquired tubulopathies causing hypokalemia, sometimes severe and life-threatening. We report a case of a middle aged female patient who presented with weakness of upper and lower limbs, muscle pain and oliguria. On evaluation, she had hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, metabolic alkalosis and hypocalciuria and diagnosis of Gitelman syndrome was established. In addition, she had acute kidney injury (AKI ) due to rhabdomyolysis secondary to hypokalemia. A short review on the etiology, pathogenesis and management of Gitelman syndrome is presented.
J MEDICINE JUL 2020; 21 (2) : 105-108