Réanimation médico-chirurgicale, hôpital Saint-Roch, CHU de Nice, 5, rue Pierre-Dévoluy, 06006 Nice cedex, France.
A 57-year-old man with chronic renal failure and multiple vascular diseases presented an acute flaccid tetraplegia. Blood tests revealed renal failure with serum potassium of 9.69 mmol/l. The medullar and brain MRI were normal. The correction of the hyperkalaemia led to a fast and complete neurological recovery. This fact confirmed the diagnosis of secondary hyperkalaemic tetraplegia.