[Laxative-induced hypokalemic myopathy. A case history]

A female patient presented with severe hypokalemia and muscle weakness following chronic abuse of laxatives (Folia Sennae). Parenteral substitution of potassium resulted in complete normalisation of the clinical signs and of the pathologically elevated serum concentrations of CPK, LDH and GOT. The importance of laxatives as a possible cause of severe hypokalaemic conditions is underlined by this case report.