Diabetes care
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Case Reports
The significance of the cerebrospinal fluid examination in the management of chlorpropamide-induced hypoglycemia.
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. ⋯ 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.