ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC STUDIES IN A CASE OF PERIODIC PARALYSIS

Abstract

Study of this rare disease has recently been stimulated by the discovery that the recurrent attacks of flaccid paralysis which characterize this condition are associated with a marked fall in the serum potassium and that the administration of potassium salts brings about rapid recovery from the attacks.¹ A review of the literature reveals a sparsity of observations on the electrocardiographic alterations induced by the disease. The papers of Janota and Weber² and Zabriskie and Frantz³ are the only ones, to our knowledge, which record electrocardiographic observations. These authors found lowering of the T waves during the paralytic episodes. It is our intention in this report to furnish additional data along these lines, as well as experimental observations on the effects of certain drugs. REPORT OF CASE B. R., a man aged 25, came under our observation in February 1939. His family history was unknown to him in