1/9. Reversible amnesia in a Type 1 diabetic patient and bilateral hippocampal lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).AIMS: Intensive insulin therapy of Type 1 diabetes limits its chronic complications, but is associated with an increased risk of severe hypoglycaemia and its neuroglycopenic consequences. methods: Case report. RESULTS: A 24-year-old male with 15 years' history of Type 1 diabetes, who was missing for 48 h, was found at home in ketoacidosis coma. intensive care permitted a rapid improvement revealing an unexpected severe anterograde amnesia, confirmed by neuropsychological testing. MRI performed 4 days after admission showed abnormal bilateral hyperintensity signals on T2-weighted images in the hippocampus. Three months later, the patient had nearly completely recovered and resumed work. MR images and neuropsychological testing returned to normal. CONCLUSIONS: The most likely course of events favours an initial prolonged hypoglycaemic coma following insulin overdose. The hippocampal injury may be a result of hypoglycaemia. Neuropsychological testing and MRI abnormalities were completely reversible. This case underlines the potential risks of intensive insulin therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = diabetic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/9. Unexplained deaths of type 1 diabetic patients.The suggestion of an increase in the number of sudden deaths of young people with Type 1 diabetes in the UK has been investigated. It was suggested that such deaths were due to hypoglycaemia and related to the increasing use of human insulin. In total we were notified of 50 deaths of people with Type 1 diabetes under age 50 years in the UK in 1989 which our informants (relatives, physicians, and pathologists) considered sudden and unexpected. An autopsy had been done in all cases and we supplemented this with detailed clinical information from relatives and case records. Of the 50 cases we excluded five with a definite cause of death, 11 suicides or self-poisonings, six cases of ketoacidosis, and four in which there was insufficient information about the circumstances of death to drawn any conclusions. Of the other 24 cases, two patients had been found with irreversible hypoglycaemic brain damage and died after a period of artificial ventilation. The most puzzling group were 22, aged 12-43 years, most of whom had gone to bed in apparently good health and been found dead in the morning. Nineteen of the 22 were sleeping alone at the time of death and 20 were found lying in an undisturbed bed. Most had uncomplicated diabetes and in none were anatomical lesions found at autopsy. There are major difficulties in diagnosing hypoglycaemia post-mortem, but the timing of death and other circumstantial evidence suggests that hypoglycaemia or a hypoglycaemia-associated event was responsible. All patients were taking human insulin at the time of death but most had been changed from animal insulin between 6 months and 2 years earlier and there was nothing to implicate the species of insulin as a factor in these deaths.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = diabetic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/9. Hypoglycaemia unawareness in diabetics transferred from beef/porcine insulin to human insulin.The case-histories of 3 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) suggested that, after a switch from beef/porcine to human insulin, a given level of hypoglycaemia may cause less pronounced sympathoadrenal symptoms (tremor, sweating, &c), so that there is less warning of impending unconsciousness. This possibility was investigated by questioning of 176 IDDM patients who had switched from beef/porcine to human insulin with negligible change in dosage 1-48 months earlier. 66 (36%) said that their symptoms of hypoglycaemia had changed from those of sympathoadrenal activation to those of neuroglycopenia. This disadvantage of human insulin is an argument for continued availability of beef/porcine insulin.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = diabetic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/9. diabetes mellitus and Graves' disease in pregnancy complicated by maternal allergies to antithyroid medication.The pregnancy of a women with diabetes mellitus was complicated by Graves' disease and maternal allergies to propylthiouracil and methimazole. Preparations for surgical removal of the thyroid gland were being made until pregnancy intervened. Several well-documented mechanisms of hyperthyroidism, including increased intestinal absorption of glucose, decreased insulin responsiveness, and increased glucose production may exacerbate glucose intolerance; the daily insulin requirement of this patient rose 80% from her pregestational dosage. When large doses of propranolol failed to control her thyrotoxic symptoms and led to severe, recurrent hypoglycemic episodes, subtotal thyroidectomy was performed. A 42% decrease in insulin requirements was observed postoperatively, with return to the euthyroid state. A propensity for symptomatic postoperative hypoglycemia should be anticipated in diabetic patients undergoing thyroidectomy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.25keywords = diabetic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/9. Nocturnal convulsions and insulin-induced hypoglycaemia in diabetic patients.Convulsions may occur as a consequence of insulin-induced hypoglycaemia. We report three patients with insulin-dependent diabetes, who presented with generalized tonic-clonic seizures associated with nocturnal hypoglycaemia. None of the patients had experienced hypoglycaemia during waking hours and the convulsions were mistakenly diagnosed as idiopathic epilepsy. Recognition of the possible hypoglycaemia aetiology of these convulsions permitted appropriate alteration of the insulin regimens with no recurrence of convulsions. In one case, the seizure was associated with bilateral fractures of the neck of the humerus. Unrecognized hypoglycaemia should be considered as a possible cause of convulsions in insulin-dependent diabetic patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.25keywords = diabetic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/9. Factitious brittle diabetes mellitus.Five patients are described in whom factitious disease was the cause of brittle type I diabetes mellitus. The patients were referred from throughout the united states because their physicians had been unable to establish the reason for recurrent hospitalizations for diabetic ketoacidosis or coma. In three of the patients, unexplainable signs, symptoms, and/or laboratory results lead to the diagnosis of factitious disease. In the two remaining patients, long-term follow-up was necessary before a factitious cause was established. These five patients exemplify the extraordinary measures that some patients will utilize to continue as a "patient" rather than return to a normal lifestyle.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.25keywords = diabetic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/9. Hypoglycemic coma associated with subcutaneous insulin infusion by portable pump.The incidence of hypoglycemia in insulin-dependent diabetic patients managed by continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) has been reported to be very low. We report a case of hypoglycemia coma occurring in a highly compliant and intelligent patient while on CSII by a portable pump. Factors contributing to this episode included high risk off hypoglycemia due to tight control, failure to recognize early hypoglycemic symptoms, and maintenance of hypoglycemia for over 2 h by the open-loop device. hypoglycemia is a complication of CSII by portable pump. We join others in recommending its use solely by experienced physicians. Constant supervision of patients while on CSII is important to eliminate this potentially lethal complication.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.25keywords = diabetic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/9. Hypoglycaemic coma following epidural analgesia.A diabetic patient who was taking an intermediate-acting insulin preparation developed sudden hypoglycaemic coma after epidural analgesia between T5 and L1. Several diagnostic possibilities are discussed. It is concluded that prophylactic intravenous infusion of glucose and small doses of local anaesthetic are always advisable in diabetic patients having epidural analgesia.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = diabetic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/9. Attempted suicide using insulin by a non diabetic: a case study demonstrating the acute and chronic consequences of profound hypoglycemia.This paper describes the case of a non diabetic physician with a prior psychiatric history in which there was overwhelming biochemical and clinical evidence that he had attempted suicide by injecting himself with an overdose of insulin. He was extensively monitored from the time of his admission to hospital in a coma, until he fully recovered consciousness 30 days later and during the next eight months of his rehabilitation. This case attests to the high level of morbidity which might follow profound hypoglycemia. It also illustrates some putative psychodynamics of suicidal behaviour--notably ambivalence and denial (at the time of writing, the patient never acknowledged that he had overdosed with insulin). A selective review on some of the more recent literature on the neuropathological effects of insulin overdose and profound hypoglycemia is presented.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.25keywords = diabetic (Clic here for more details about this article) |