1. Hypoglycaemic coma due to adrenal failure in a chronic haemodialysis patient
- Author
-
Katsuko Shirotori, Toru Aizawa, Tomomasa Oguchi, Masami Tanaka, Tsuyoshi Kamijo, Yoshiko Funase, Toru Koyama, Satoshi Minami, and Kazuki Suganuma
- Subjects
Transplantation ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Cirrhosis ,Anemia ,business.industry ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Case Report ,Adrenocorticotropic hormone ,Hypoglycemia ,medicine.disease ,Gastroenterology ,haemodialysis ,Endocrinology ,Nephrology ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Pancreatitis ,adrenal failure ,Hemodialysis ,Pancreatitis, chronic ,business ,hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists ,hypoglycaemia ,Hydrocortisone ,medicine.drug - Abstract
A 62-year-old man, receiving chronic haemodialysis and suffering from alcoholic liver cirrhosis and chronic pancreatitis, presented with hypoglycaemic coma. Plasma cortisol was undetectable (< 5.5 nmol/L) with suppressed adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which established a diagnosis of adrenal failure due to ACTH deficiency. Twenty-five milligrams of oral hydrocortisone eradicated hypoglycaemia. Presentation of adrenal failure in this patient was atypical because he was hypertensive, serum electrolytes including sodium were normal and anaemia was unremarkable, which were all due to end-stage renal disease and its treatment with haemodialysis. As far as we are aware, this is the first case report of hypoglycaemic coma due to adrenal failure in a chronic haemodialysis patient.
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
- View/download PDF