Open AccessUltrasound of the diaphragm in severe hypokalemia induced diaphragmatic dysfunction
Author(s) -
Gentle Sunder Shrestha,
Shayuja Rajbhandari
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
lung india
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.457
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 0974-598X
pISSN - 0970-2113
DOI - 10.4103/lungindia.lungindia_4_17
Subject(s) - hypokalemia , medicine , diaphragm (acoustics) , diaphragmatic breathing , ultrasound , muscle weakness , weakness , cardiology , radiology , surgery , pathology , physics , alternative medicine , acoustics , loudspeaker
Severe hypokalemia presents with significant muscle weakness and involvement of respiratory muscles. Bedside ultrasonography of the diaphragm is emerging as a noninvasive bedside tool for diagnosis and followup of diaphragmatic dysfunction due to various causes. Here, we present a case of diaphragmatic dysfunction due to severe hypokalemia. The patient presented with acute onset quadriparesis that rapidly improved with correction of hypokalemia. The clinical and laboratory parameters correlated well with the findings of diaphragm ultrasound, both initially and after correction of hypokalemia.