Severe diabetic ketoacidosis complicated with severe dyslipidemia, cerebral edema and acute kidney injury in a pediatric girl with type 1 diabetes mellitus: a case study

Abstract

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening acute metabolic complication occurring in patients with type 1 diabetes, due to an insulin deficiency. Moderate hypertriglyceridemia is commonly observed in DKA but severe hypertriglyceridemia with a triglyceride level exceeding 10 g/l is very rarely reported. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious condition which still carries a mortality of around 50%. Cerebral edema is a devastating complication of DKA which is leading cause of diabetes-related death in the pediatric population. Newly diagnosed diabetes, younger age, first episode of DKA, severity of DKA at presentation, and administration of bicarbonate are predictive of cerebral edema in DKA. We present a case of 8-year-old girl who presented with severe DKA, whose clinical course was complicated by renal failure, severe dyslipidemia and cerebral edema.