RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Severe diabetic ketoacidosis leading to cardiac failure, pulmonary oedema and spinal cord oedema resulting in tetraplegia
JF BMJ Case Reports
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP bcr2012006769
DO 10.1136/bcr-2012-006769
VO 2012
A1 Christodoulidou, Michelle
A1 Selmi, Fahed
YR 2012
UL http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2012/bcr-2012-006769.abstract
AB A 23-year-old man with poorly controlled insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus presented to casualty with community-acquired pneumonia and diabetic ketoacidosis. Shortly after admission he deteriorated and developed cardiac failure, pulmonary oedema and further decreased level of consciousness. He was sedated and ventilated for 3 weeks in the intensive care unit. On waking from sedation he was found to be tetraplegic. MRI scan showed gross oedema of the cervical spinal cord with area suspicious of infarction. We describe a rare cause of spinal cord injury and discuss the proposed hypotheses.