Journals / Journal of Emergency Medicine Case Reports / 2012 / Cilt: 3 - Sayı: 1
Hypokalemia with ECG Abnormalities Mimicking Acute Coronary Syndrome in a Diabetic Ketoacidotic Patient
- Pages
- 18–20
- DOI
- —
Abstract
Diabetic ketoacidosis is an extremely serious complication of diabetes mellitus. It arises because of a complex disturbance in glucose metabolism. There is usually a precipitating cause such as sepsis or myocardial infarction. If not recognised and appropriately treated, it can have devastating consequences. This is a case report of a patient with severe diabetic ketoacidosis and interesting electrocardiographic (ECG) findings. The initial electro-cardiographic findings were suggestive of an acute coronary syndrome. The ECG changes normalised remarkably following management of the diabetic ketoacidosis. In this presentation we wished to point out the challenges of differential diagnosis of ECG abnormalities in diabetic ketoacidosis with hypocalemia
Özet
Diabetic ketoacidosis is an extremely serious complication of diabetes mellitus. It arises because of a complex disturbance in glucose metabolism. There is usually a precipitating cause such as sepsis or myocardial infarction. If not recognised and appropriately treated, it can have devastating consequences. This is a case report of a patient with severe diabetic ketoacidosis and interesting electrocardiographic (ECG) findings. The initial electro-cardiographic findings were suggestive of an acute coronary syndrome. The ECG changes normalised remarkably following management of the diabetic ketoacidosis. In this presentation we wished to point out the challenges of differential diagnosis of ECG abnormalities in diabetic ketoacidosis with hypocalemia.