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Topics in Pediatrics pp 9–15Cite as

Life-Threatening Cerebral Edema in Diabetes: A Preventable Complication?

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Abstract

Life-threatening cerebral edema (CE) is a disastrous complication that occurs almost exclusively in patients under 25 years of age. Although exceptional in any single physician’s experience, several series suggest that it accounts for a substantial portion of diabetic ketoacidemia (DKA) associated deaths in childhood.

Over a 5-year period in Birmingham, England, three deaths occurred among 35 cases of DKA in the 10-to 19-year age group, and all were due to CE.1 At the Joslin Clinic, from 1964 to 1966, there were 52 cases of DKA in an unknown age range with four deaths, of which two were the famous CE cases reported by Young and Bradley in 1967.2 In a 35-year review of deaths in people under 20 with diabetes, the Pittsburgh Childen’s Hospital group noted 17 DKA-associated deaths at onset of the diabetes, of which seven (41%) could be attributed to cerebral edema; and 19 deaths after diagnosis, of which four (21%) were due to CE.3 Thus, at least 31% of DKA-associated deaths and 20% of all deaths in this age group could be attributed to cerebral edema. Travis4 has seen two deaths and one case of severe neurological impairment due to cerebral edema in 24 years and 384 episodes of DKA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Arlan L. Rosenbloom

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  1. Arlan L. Rosenbloom
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Florida College of Medicine, 33612, Tampa, Florida, USA

    Herbert H. Pomerance MD (Professor of Pediatrics, Professor Emeritus) & Barry B. Bercu MD (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics, Professor Emeritus) &  (Professor of Pediatrics)

  2. Department of Pediatrics, West Virgina University College Of Medicine, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

    Herbert H. Pomerance MD (Professor of Pediatrics, Professor Emeritus) (Professor of Pediatrics, Professor Emeritus)

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Rosenbloom, A.L. (1990). Life-Threatening Cerebral Edema in Diabetes: A Preventable Complication?. In: Pomerance, H.H., Bercu, B.B. (eds) Topics in Pediatrics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3230-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3230-8_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7925-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3230-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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