Corey M Teagarden1, Carla W Picardo. 1. From the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie, Pennsylvania; and St. Vincent Health System, Erie, Pennsylvania and the Department of Social Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Acute hypokalemic periodic paralysis may be induced by betamethasone injections during pregnancy. CASE: A healthy 23-year-old gravid woman at 32 weeks of gestation with preterm premature rupture of membranes received two doses of 12-mg intramuscular betamethasone 24 hours apart to accelerate fetal lung maturation. She developed significant proximal muscle weakness within 16 hours after the initial dose. Her serum potassium was 1.6 mEq/L. Oral and parenteral potassium replacement restored her neuromuscular function over several days. She delivered by repeat cesarean at 34 weeks of gestation without complications for her or the neonate. CONCLUSION: Hypokalemic periodic paralysis, a rare cause of weakness, may be induced by betamethasone injections during pregnancy and is reversible with low-risk interventions.
BACKGROUND: Acute hypokalemic periodic paralysis may be induced by betamethasone injections during pregnancy. CASE: A healthy 23-year-old gravid woman at 32 weeks of gestation with preterm premature rupture of membranes received two doses of 12-mg intramuscular betamethasone 24 hours apart to accelerate fetal lung maturation. She developed significant proximal muscle weakness within 16 hours after the initial dose. Her serum potassium was 1.6 mEq/L. Oral and parenteral potassium replacement restored her neuromuscular function over several days. She delivered by repeat cesarean at 34 weeks of gestation without complications for her or the neonate. CONCLUSION:Hypokalemic periodic paralysis, a rare cause of weakness, may be induced by betamethasone injections during pregnancy and is reversible with low-risk interventions.