Case report: diabetic ketoacidosis in a patient with glucagonoma.

Abstract

The development of diabetic ketoacidosis is an unusual complication of a glucagon-secreting pancreatic islet cell neoplasm, with only four reported cases in the literature. In this article, the authors report on a 46-year-old woman with a glucagonoma cosecreting pancreatic polypeptide, somatostatin, and serotonin diagnosed 8 months before the onset of diabetic ketoacidosis. She was treated with hydration, insulin, and octreotide, with improvement in her clinical course and a decrease in the glucagon, pancreatic polypeptide, and chromogranin A plasma levels. With the addition of weekly 5-FU, she has maintained a partial radiographic response and has had no further episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis for a 4.5-year period. Diabetic ketoacidosis can develop in the presence of a glucagonoma, and the pathophysiology remains unknown.

• Authors: L B Anthony, S C Sharp, M E May
• Journal: The American journal of the medical sciences (Am J Med Sci) Vol. 309 Issue 6 Pg. 326-7 (Jun 1995) ISSN: 0002-9629 [Print] United States
• PMID: 7771503 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.)

Chemical References

• Insulin
• Serotonin
• Somatostatin
• Pancreatic Polypeptide
• Octreotide
• Fluorouracil

Topics

• Diabetic Ketoacidosis (etiology)
• Female
• Fluid Therapy
• Fluorouracil (therapeutic use)
• Glucagonoma (complications, diagnosis, drug therapy)
• Humans
• Insulin (therapeutic use)
• Middle Aged
• Octreotide (therapeutic use)
• Pancreatic Neoplasms (complications, diagnosis, drug therapy)
• Pancreatic Polypeptide (metabolism)
• Serotonin (metabolism)
• Somatostatin (metabolism)