Suspecting unwitnessed hypoglycaemia

Pract Neurol. 2021 Apr 13:practneurol-2020-002887. doi: 10.1136/practneurol-2020-002887. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Hypoglycaemic coma can present with acute neurological dysfunction mimicking stroke. It may be masked by normoglycaemia due to physiological compensatory mechanisms (Somogyi phenomenon). Specific MR brain scan changes should alert the clinician to consider this alternative to stroke in the acute setting in patients with a history of recurrent hypoglycaemia, even when the blood glucose is not low at presentation. Rapid identification and treatment of hypoglycaemia may confer a good prognosis with radiological resolution.

Keywords: MRI; endocrinology; image analysis; stroke.