a number of diseases, mostly inherited and episodic in nature, caused by dysfunction of the calcium, chloride, potassium, or sodium channels of nerve or muscle; the inherited myotonias and periodic paralyses are included in this category; there is usually dominant inheritance, with the primary defect due to mutations of gene encoding on locus 7q32, 17q, or 1q31-32. SYN: channelopathies.
