A Case of Lipoatrophy With Insulin Glargine
Long-acting insulin analogs are not exempt from this complication
- F. Javier Ampudia-Blasco, MD1,
- Juan Girbes, MD2 and
- Rafael Carmena, MD1
- 1Diabetes Reference Unit, Endocrinology Department, Clinic University Hospital, Valencia, Spain
- 2Diabetes Unit, Arnau de Vilanova Hospital, Valencia, Spain
- Address correspondence to Dr. F. Javier Ampudia-Blasco, Diabetes Reference Unit, Endocrinology Department, Clinic University Hospital Valencia, Avda Blasco Ibáñez, 17, 46010 Valencia, Spain. E-mail: francisco.j.ampudia{at}uv.es
Lipoatrophy as a cutaneous complication of insulin therapy became extremely rare since the introduction of recombinant human insulin. Recently, some cases of lipoatrophy were reported in association with the use of rapid-acting insulin analogs, like lispro insulin, in combination with pump therapy (1,2). If long-acting insulin analogs are exempt from this, the complications are not known.
We report the case of a 39-year-old type 1 diabetic Caucasian woman (weight 50 kg, BMI 21.4 kg/m2) with diabetes duration of 8 years. She began intensified insulin therapy with two premixed insulin injections before breakfast and dinner and regular insulin before lunch …
