The Significance of the Cerebrospinal Fluid Examination in the Management of Chlorpropamide-induced Hypoglycemia

Abstract

Chlorpropamide-induced hypoglycemia is often overlooked, misdiagnosed, and mistreated, because of the atypical, insidious, and intermittent clinical picture and because of the normal serum glucose level in some of the patients when arriving at the hospital. These facts are demonstrated in three case reports. Since the correction of low glucose levels in the cerebrospinal fluid occurs hours after its correction in the serum, examining and at times following the cerebrospinal fluid glucose levels in patients with chlorpropamide-induced neuroglycopenia will enable physicians to diagnose and cure more patients. A high index of suspicion should exist in the presence of any atypical encephalopathy, mainly in the elderly diabetic patient treated with chlorpropamide and suffering from impaired cerebral, hepatic, or renal function. By suspecting and identifying neuroglycopenia, disabling residual deficits and even death could eventually be prevented.