19th July 2023

An emergency call is put out for a 32-year-old woman who presented to ED with a witnessed seizure which self-terminated after 3 minutes.

An emergency call is put out for a 32-year-old woman who presented to ED with a witnessed seizure which self-terminated after 3 minutes. Now she is noted to have a right-sided arm and leg weakness. She has a past medical history notable for tuberous sclerosis and has had one previous seizure.

Blood results are awaited, but a venous blood gas shows the following:

pH 7.34, pO2 11.1, pCO2 4.63, lactate 2.1, bicarbonate 24.3, glucose 5.4.

CT head is reported as normal.

What is the most likely cause of this patient’s weakness?

Select the SINGLE most appropriate option from the list below. Select ONE option only.