Diabetic Ketoacidosis in a Patient with Acromegaly

• Main Authors: Yen-Ling Chen, Chih-Peng Wei, Chin-Cheng Lee, Tien-Chun Chang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2007-09-01
• Series: Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
• Subjects: acromegaly; diabetic ketoacidosis
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092966460860042X

Diabetes mellitus develops in about 10% of acromegalic patients, usually secondary to insulin resistance caused by growth hormone excess. Diabetic ketoacidosis is a result of relative insulin deficiency and is a rare feature of acromegaly. Here, we present one case of this disorder. A 57-year-old man came to the emergency room due to 2 weeks of dizziness. He also had polyuria, polydipsia, nausea, diplopia, blurred vision and dysarthria. His plasma glucose level was 32.06 mmol/L, plasma osmolarity was 322 mOsm/L, arterial pH was 7.30, level of bicarbonates was 18 mmol/L, urine ketones was 4+, and HbA1c was 14.1%. No specific cause for the development of this metabolic derangement could be found. He displayed clinical features of acromegaly during admission, which was confirmed by an elevated growth hormone level and pituitary macroadenoma shown on magnetic resonance imaging. The patient underwent total transsphe-noid tumor removal 2 weeks later; plasma glucose levels became normal thereafter.