Hypokalaemic periodic paralysis due to the CACNA1S R1239H mutation in a large African family.

Hypokalaemic periodic paralysis (HypoKPP) is a skeletal muscle channelopathy caused by mutations in calcium (CACNA1S) and sodium (SCN4A) channel subunits. A small number of causative mutations have been found in European and Asian patients, but not in African patients yet. We have identified a large Beninese family in which HypoKPP segregated over five generations and was caused by the CACNA1S R1239H mutation.