Brain Imaging Findings in Neonatal Hypoglycemia: Case Report and Review of 23 Cases

Abstract

A hypoglycemic infant with secondary occipital brain injury defined by serial computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging is described. An additional 22 similar cases were previously published in the English language literature. A total of 23 cases (including the present case) were reviewed. Abnormal brain imaging findings are associated with profound hypoglycemia and show involvement of the occipital lobes in 82% of affected newborns. Half of these infants had visual impairment, and their median and range of plasma glucose values, and postnatal age when hypoglycemia was first detected, were 7 mg/dL (range, 2-26 mg/dL) and 48 hours (range, 1-72 hours), respectively.