A Case of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus with Diabetic Ketoacidosis Presenting with Transient Severe Fatty Liver and Subsequent Liver Dysfunction

Intern Med. 2024 May 9. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.3488-24. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Patients often present with severe fatty liver (FL) due to insulin deficiency at the onset of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). On the other hand, glycogenic hepatopathy (GH) is a possible cause of liver dysfunction in patients with DKA. We herein report a case of type 1 diabetes mellitus with severe FL at the onset of DKA, who demonstrated subsequent marked liver dysfunction after achieving an improvement of FL. As liver dysfunction persisted even after the FL improved, GH was suspected to be the cause of liver dysfunction. FL and GH have different prognoses and should therefore be differentiated using imaging studies and biopsies.

Keywords: diabetic ketoacidosis; fatty liver; glycogenic hepatopathy.