scholarly journals Early Detection of Diabetic Ketoacidosis by Breathalyzer in a Sailor Reporting for Duty

2019 ◽  
Vol 184 (11-12) ◽  
pp. e951-e952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Reinhart

Abstract Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a severe medical condition involving the uncontrolled hyperglycemia and ketoacidosis that results from impaired insulin utilization. The biochemical response to insulin resistance or deficiency is a ketotic state in which fatty acids are converted to ketone bodies for an alternative energy source. Patients in DKA acutely develop severe symptoms, typically over the course of 24–48 hours. Classic symptoms include nausea, vomiting, lethargy, altered mental status, and abdominal pain. As the time course of ketoacidosis is relatively rapid, it is rare to identify a developing case of DKA prior to symptom onset. In this atypical case, the author presents an asymptomatic 37-year-old active duty male without a history of diabetes, whose DKA detection was inspired by an elevated breathalyzer reading. The Sailor underwent routine breath alcohol analysis per command instruction upon reporting for duty. In the absence of recent alcohol intake, the elevated breathalyzer reading is associated with the Sailor’s metabolic ketoacidosis. Acetone, one of three primary ketone bodies generated in DKA is notable as the cause of the hallmark fruity odor breath of DKA patients. In this case, it is converted to isopropanol, an agent that is detectable by breathalyzers.

CJEM ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (S1) ◽  
pp. S47 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Bédard ◽  
P. Voyer ◽  
D. Eagles ◽  
V. Boucher ◽  
M. Pelletier ◽  
...  

Introduction: Cognitive dysfunction is getting more common in geriatric emergency department (ED) patients, as the number of seniors visiting our EDs is increasing. ED guidelines recommend a systematic mental status screening for seniors presenting to the ED. As the existing tools are not suitable for the busy ED environment, we need quicker and easier ways to assess altered mental status, such as the O3DY. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the French version of the O3DY to screen for cognitive dysfunction in seniors presenting to the ED. Methods: This is a planned sub-study of the INDEED project, which was conducted between February and May 2016 in 4 hospitals across the province of Québec. Inclusion criteria were: patients aged ≥65, with an 8-hour ED stay, admitted on a care unit, independent or semi-independent in their activities of daily living. Exclusion criteria were: patient living in a long-term nursing facility, with an unstable medical condition, pre-existing psychiatric condition or severe dementia, a delirium within the 8-hour exposure to the ED. A trained research assistant collected the following data upon initial interview: socio-demographic information, cognitive assessment (TICS-m), functional assessment (OARS) and delirium screening (CAM). The O3DY was also administered at initial interview and during patient follow-ups, as well as the CAM. Results: This study population was composed of 305 participants, of which 47.7% were men. Mean age was 76 years old (SD: 10.8). Nine of these participants had a previous history of dementia. 151 of these participants (47,04%) had a negative O3DY and 154 (47,98%) a positive O3DY at the initial encounter. When compared to the CAM, the O3DY presents a sensitivity of 85.0% (95% CI [62.1, 96.8]) and a specificity of 57.7% (95% CI [51.8, 63.6]) for prevalent delirium. When compared to the TICS, the O3DY presents a sensitivity of 76.7% (95% CI [66.4, 85.2]) and a specificity of 68.1% (95% CI [61.3, 74.3]) for cognitive impairment. The combined measure presents a sensitivity of 76.7% (95% CI [66.6, 84.9]) and a specificity of 68.4% (95% CI [61.7, 74.5]). Conclusion: A negative result to the O3DY indicates the absence of prevalent delirium or undetected cognitive impairment. The O3DY could be a useful tool for the triage nurses in the ED.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-298
Author(s):  
Brian Thompson ◽  
Anthony Kitchen

Introduction: Recently, euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis has been an increasing topic of discussion within emergency medicine literature. Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis can easily be missed, as a normal point-of-care glucose often mistakenly precludes the work-up of diabetic ketoacidosis. Case Report: A 16-year-old female with a past medical history of type 1 diabetes presented to the emergency department with altered mental status, vomiting, and abdominal pain. She was diagnosed with euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis. Conclusion: Reported cases of euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis are most frequently attributed to sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors, but other potential causes have been discussed in the literature. In this patient, a starvation state with continued insulin use in the setting of acute appendicitis led to her condition.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian Gregory ◽  
Sonali Basu

AbstractBackground:Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in children less than 1 year of age is a rare occurrence. Typical presentation includes a prodrome of weight loss and polyuria with subsequent presentation to medical care when acidosis becomes symptomatic.Case presentation:We describe an unusual case of a previously healthy infant with a 3 days’ history of constipation, presenting acutely with abdominal pain, lethargy, and dehydration. On initial evaluation, our patient had profound encephalopathy, with marked tachypnea and work of breathing. Arterial blood gas revealed a pH of 6.9, pCO2 of 20 and a bicarbonate level of <5. There was profound leukocytosis (WBC 77 K/μL), hyperuricemia (uric acid 15.9 mg/dL), and evidence of pre-renal azotemia [blood urea nitrogen (BUN) 54, Cr 0.82]. Blood glucose was >700 mg/dL. Despite fluid resuscitation and insulin infusion of 0.1 unit/kg/h, which are the mainstays of therapy for DKA, her severe metabolic acidosis and altered mental status did not improve. Differential diagnosis for her metabolic derangements included inborn errors of metabolism, insulin receptor defects, toxic ingestions, and septic shock secondary to an underlying oncologic or intra-abdominal process. The patient was treated with broad spectrum antibiotics and rasburicase. She continued to have significant shock for the first 30 h of her hospital stay, requiring moderate vasoactive support. Due to her refractory acidosis and persistent hyperglycemia, insulin infusion was increased to 0.15 units/kg/h. A hemoglobin AConclusions:Metabolic acidosis in an infant requires a broad differential. Rasburicase should be considered in hyperuricemia and DKA.


1995 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 7-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nakamura Teruo ◽  
Kudou Kendzi ◽  
Terada Akinori ◽  
Ishii Masataka

It is known that patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) have a violation of insulin secretion. When insulin is discontinued or when exposed to stress, they can quickly develop diabetic ketoacidosis. The reason for this is a decrease in the content of free insulin in the blood. Patients with pancreatic diabetes (PD) (according to the WHO classification: diabetes associated with pancreatic disease) also have an endogenous violation of insulin secretion. However, they have less frequent diabetic ketoacidosis. Of 92 patients with chronic pancreatitis and PD, 11 (12%) patients had a history of positive reaction to ketone bodies at least once, and only 3 patients had ketoacidosis. When studying the excretion of a C-peptide with urine, it turned out that its content was not determined or was very insignificant both in patients with PD and patients with IDDM. Consequently, the origin of ketoacidosis cannot be associated only with the ability of the pancreas to secrete insulin. This article examined the mechanisms of ketoacidosis in patients with PD and IDDM. The activity of 3-hydroxybutyric acid (3-HMC) in the blood was determined as an indicator. At the same time, the content of free insulin and glucagon was measured.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-218
Author(s):  
Marta Brandão Calçada ◽  
Luís Fernandes ◽  
Rita Soares Costa ◽  
Sara Montezinho ◽  
Filipa Martins Duarte ◽  
...  

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are the most recently approved drug class for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Although they are largely well-tolerated, their intake has been associated with euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in some rare cases. We report the case of a 70-year-old male with type 2 diabetes and no history of DKA, who started therapy with empagliflozin one day before presenting with acute pancreatitis and laboratory findings consistent with euglycemic DKA. SGLT2i can induce euglycemic DKA from the first dose. Given the atypical presentation, a high degree of clinical suspicion is required to recognize this complication.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Gabriel Velilla-Alonso ◽  
Andrés García-Pastor ◽  
Ángela Rodríguez-López ◽  
Ana Gómez-Roldós ◽  
Antonio Sánchez-Soblechero ◽  
...  

Introduction: We analyzed whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis affected acute stroke care in our center during the first 2 months of lockdown in Spain. Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective study. We collected demographic, clinical, and radiological data; time course; and treatment of patients meeting the stroke unit admission criteria from March 14 to May 14, 2020 (COVID-19 period group). Data were compared with the same period in 2019 (pre-COVID-19 period group). Results: 195 patients were analyzed; 83 in the COVID-19 period group, resulting in a 26% decline of acute strokes and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) admitted to our center compared with the previous year (p = 0.038). Ten patients (12%) tested positive for PCR SARS-CoV-2. The proportion of patients aged 65 years and over was lower in the COVID-19 period group (53 vs. 68.8%, p = 0.025). During the pandemic period, analyzed patients were more frequently smokers (27.7 vs. 10.7%, p = 0.002) and had less frequently history of prior stroke (13.3 vs. 25%, p = 0.043) or atrial fibrillation (9.6 vs. 25%, p = 0.006). ASPECTS score was lower (9 [7–10] vs. 10 [8–10], p = 0.032), NIHSS score was slightly higher (5 [2–14] vs. 4 [2–8], p = 0.122), onset-to-door time was higher (304 [93–760] vs. 197 [91.25–645] min, p = 0.104), and a lower proportion arrived within 4.5 h from onset of symptoms (43.4 vs. 58%, p = 0.043) during the CO­VID-19 period. There were no differences between proportion of patients receiving recanalization treatment (intravenous thrombolysis and/or mechanical thrombectomy) and in-hospital delays. Conclusion: We observed a reduction in the number of acute strokes and TIAs admitted during the COVID-19 period. This drop affected especially elderly patients, and despite a delay in their arrival to the emergency department, the proportion of patients treated with recanalization therapies was preserved.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. eabf6780
Author(s):  
Corinde E. Wiers ◽  
Leandro F. Vendruscolo ◽  
Jan-Willem van der Veen ◽  
Peter Manza ◽  
Ehsan Shokri-Kojori ◽  
...  

Individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) show elevated brain metabolism of acetate at the expense of glucose. We hypothesized that a shift in energy substrates during withdrawal may contribute to withdrawal severity and neurotoxicity in AUD and that a ketogenic diet (KD) may mitigate these effects. We found that inpatients with AUD randomized to receive KD (n = 19) required fewer benzodiazepines during the first week of detoxification, in comparison to those receiving a standard American (SA) diet (n = 14). Over a 3-week treatment, KD compared to SA showed lower “wanting” and increased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) reactivity to alcohol cues and altered dACC bioenergetics (i.e., elevated ketones and glutamate and lower neuroinflammatory markers). In a rat model of alcohol dependence, a history of KD reduced alcohol consumption. We provide clinical and preclinical evidence for beneficial effects of KD on managing alcohol withdrawal and on reducing alcohol drinking.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089719002110048
Author(s):  
Gregory G. Jackson ◽  
Christine R. Lopez ◽  
Elizabeth S. Bermudez ◽  
Nina E. Hill ◽  
Dan M. Roden ◽  
...  

Purpose: A case of loperamide-induced recurrent torsades de pointes is reported to raise awareness of an increasingly common phenomenon that could be encountered by medical providers during the current opioid epidemic. Summary: A 40 year-old-man with a prior history of opioid abuse who presented to the emergency department after taking up to 100 tablets of loperamide 2 mg daily for 5 years to blunt opioid withdrawal symptoms and was subsequently admitted to the intensive care unit for altered mental status and hyperthermia. The patient had prolonged QTc and 2 episodes of torsades de pointes (TdP) that resulted in cardiac arrest with return of spontaneous circulation. He was managed with isoproterenol, overdrive pacing, and methylnatrexone with no other events of TdP or cardiac arrest. Conclusion: A 40-year-old male who developed torsades de pointes from loperamide overdose effectively treated with overdrive pacing, isoproterenol, and methylnatrexone.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Skipina ◽  
S. Macbeth ◽  
E. L. Cummer ◽  
O. L. Wells ◽  
S. Kalathoor

Abstract Introduction Acute encephalopathy, while a common presentation in the emergency department, is typically caused by a variety of metabolic, vascular, infectious, structural, or psychiatric etiologies. Among metabolic causes, hyperammonemia is relatively common and typically occurs in the setting of cirrhosis or liver dysfunction. However, noncirrhotic hyperammonemia is a rare occurrence and poses unique challenges for clinicians. Case presentation Here we report a rare case of a 50-year-old Caucasian female with history of bladder cancer status post chemotherapy, radical cystectomy, and ileocecal diversion who presented to the emergency department with severe altered mental status, combativeness, and a 3-day history of decreased urine output. Her laboratory tests were notable for hyperammonemia up to 289 μmol/L, hypokalemia, and hyperchloremic nonanion gap metabolic acidosis; her liver function tests were normal. Urine cultures were positive for Enterococcus faecium. Computed tomography imaging showed an intact ileoceal urinary diversion with chronic ileolithiasis. Upon administration of appropriate antibiotics, lactulose, and potassium citrate, she experienced rapid resolution of her encephalopathy and a significant reduction in hyperammonemia. Her hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis persisted, but her hypokalemia had resolved. Conclusion This case is an example of one of the unique consequences of urinary diversions. Urothelial tissue is typically impermeable to urinary solutes. However, when bowel segments are used, abnormal absorption of solutes occurs, including exchange of urinary chloride for serum bicarbonate, leading to a persistent hyperchloremic nonanion gap metabolic acidosis. In addition, overproduction of ammonia from urea-producing organisms can lead to abnormal absorption into the blood and subsequent oversaturation of hepatic metabolic capacity with consequent hyperammonemic encephalopathy. Although this is a rare case, prompt identification and treatment of these metabolic abnormalities is critical to prevent severe central nervous system complications such as altered mental status, coma, and even death in patients with urinary diversions.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1952
Author(s):  
Anna Johansson ◽  
Isabel Drake ◽  
Gunnar Engström ◽  
Stefan Acosta

Risk factors for ischemic stroke is suggested to differ by etiologic subtypes. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors and atherothrombotic stroke (i.e., excluding cardioembolic stroke), and to examine if the potential benefit of modifiable lifestyle factors differs among subjects with and without predisposing comorbidities. After a median follow-up of 21.2 years, 2339 individuals were diagnosed with atherothrombotic stroke out of 26,547 study participants from the Malmö Diet and Cancer study. Using multivariable Cox regression, we examined non-modifiable (demographics and family history of stroke), semi-modifiable comorbidities (hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus and atherosclerotic disease), and modifiable (smoking, body mass index, diet quality, physical activity, and alcohol intake) risk factors in relation to atherothrombotic stroke. Higher age, male gender, family history of stroke, and low educational level increased the risk of atherothrombotic stroke as did predisposing comorbidities. Non-smoking (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.56–0.68), high diet quality (HR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.72–0.97) and high leisure-time physical activity (HR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.80–0.98) decreased the risk of atherothrombotic ischemic stroke independent of established risk factors, with non-significant associations with body mass index and alcohol intake. The effect of the lifestyle factors was independent of predisposing comorbidities at baseline. The adverse effects of several cardiovascular risk factors were confirmed in this study of atherothrombotic stroke. Smoking cessation, improving diet quality and increasing physical activity level is likely to lower risk of atherothrombotic stroke in the general population as well as in patient groups at high risk.


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