Post-traumatic episodic hypothermia

Abstract

Introduction: Temperature regulation corresponds to one of the most important vital control mechanisms in humans. Among the causes of hypothermia are described several of neurological and non-neurological origin. In most cases of hypothermia that develops secondary to cranial trauma described in literature, these are patients with sustained severe neurological damage but there are few descriptions related to mild cranioencephalic trauma or in patients without other important sequelae.

Objective: To examine a case of post-traumatic episodic hypothermia without associated neurological affectations and without demonstrated organic lesions.

Case presentation: Male patient, 14 years old, health history. He suffered from a cranial trauma with no apparent clinical repercussion at the time. A week after the trauma, episodes of nocturnal hypothermia of variable duration, self-limiting, always during the patient's sleep, begin to occur. Between episodes the patient remains asymptomatic. Normal physical exam. Neuroimaging studies without alteration. Rest and medical treatment are indicated first with carbamazepine and then with sodium valproate. Currently, the patient shows improvements but not complete remission of the episodes.

Conclusions: Hypothermia is associated with a high number of conditions. Most patients with cranial trauma who present hypothermia have other associated damages and present hypothermia in a frequent manner, but there are other patients, such as the case presented, without comprobable organic lesions in imaging studies that present thermoregulation disorders on a recurrent basis with periods of normality between them.

 episodic hypothermia; post-traumatic hypothermia