Author: Sarah Hudson / Editor: Adrian Boyle / Reviewer: Caitriona Considine, Mohammed Hamza / Codes: A5 / Published: 13/08/2022
A 40-year-old female is brought in by ambulance having collapsed. She has vomited several times.
On examination, she is unable to abduct her left eye, has slurred speech with drooping of the left side of her face and has right sided hemipariesis. She is able to understand questions and communicates that she collapsed at 9:00am but was unable to get to the phone to call for help. The patient was admitted to hospital at 2:00pm. She is normally fit and well.
An arterial blood gas shows low potassium ions and high lactate.