Residual dysphasia after severe hypoglycemia in a patient with immune-mediated primary adrenal insufficiency and type 1 diabetes mellitus: case report and systematic review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE

To describe a 24-year-old patient with immune-mediated primary adrenal insufficiency and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) receiving intensive diabetes management who was comatose at presentation attributable to severe hypoglycemia and had residual dysphasia after recovery and to summarize the related literature.

METHODS

We present a case report and the findings on systematic review of the pertinent literature to identify the cumulative incidence of severe hypoglycemia with use of intensive insulin therapy in patients with primary adrenal insufficiency and T1DM and to determine the incidence of dysphasia after severe hypoglycemia.

RESULTS

After 5 days of mechanical ventilation, our patient was revived. He had severe dysphasia after recovery of consciousness. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed encephalomalacia in the left temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes. After 6 years of follow-up, he continues to have residual deficits of expressive dysphasia and difficult-to-control seizures but no other neurologic disorders. Systematic review of the literature revealed that studies from the 1950s reported mortality due to hypoglycemia in such a cohort, but no recent studies have described the cumulative incidence of severe hypoglycemia in a cohort of patients with primary adrenal insufficiency and T1DM. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first findings on magnetic resonance imaging of the head in such a patient.

CONCLUSIONS

Fortunately, residual dysphasia is an infrequent outcome after severe hypoglycemia.