Periodic drop thumb, hypokalemia and adrenal adenoma

To report an unusual involvement of focal distal muscles but not proximal muscles in a patient with hypokalemic periodic paralysis [hypoPP]. A middle-aged woman presented with episodic weakness of the bilateral thumbs lasting for 2 years. Hypokalemia and a left adrenal mass were subsequently found. Her weakness subsided after surgical removal of the adrenal mass, which was pathologically proven to be an adrenal adenoma. The findings for this patient should alert physicians to consider focal distal motor paresis due to hypoPP. A preexisting occult trauma may predispose to paralysis at an atypical location in secondary hypoPP

Prediction of total cholesterol: high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol ratio in young adults.

Abnormal cholesterol fraction is an essential risk factor for atherosclerosis of large cerebral arteries in young Asians. In order to reduce the medical cost and social resource for cholesterol electrophoresis, especially in undeveloped and developing Asian countries, we evaluated the validity of Nanji's GUT score for predicting TC: HDLC ratio in this population. Results showed that GUT score only predicted 71% of them. We also tested the predictive power of CUT index, and predicting rate was 81%. Therefore, Nanji's GUT score is not an ideal surrogate for cholesterol electrophoresis. We recommend CUT index to screen for high-risk subjects till a new method can satisfy the economic pattern in Asian countries.