Paroxysmale hypothermie bij multiple sclerose

Background

Multiple sclerosis (MS) can be accompanied by paroxysmal symptoms. These are diverse in nature and often not well known.

Case description

In the emergency department, we repeatedly saw a 49-year-old man with secondary progressive MS with recurrent episodes of hypothermia, loss of consciousness, thrombocytopenia and worsening of pre-existing neurological deficits. In some of these episodes we identified an underlying urinary tract infection, which we treated. After normalization of the body temperature, we observed complete recovery of the clinical signs and platelet count.

Conclusion

Paroxysmal hypothermia can be a symptom of MS and is accompanied by a change in level of consciousness, increase of neurological deficits and haematological disturbances. Usually, there is full recovery after normalization of the body temperature and treatment of any underlying infections. Early recognition of these recurrent symptoms is important to prevent unnecessary diagnostics and overtreatment.

Conflict of interest and financial support: potential conflicts of interest have been reported for this article. ICMJE forms provided by the authors are available online along with the full text of this article.