Fulminant diabetes mellitus associated with pregnancy: Case reports and literature review

Abstract

We report two cases of type 1 diabetes mellitus fulminantly developed as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at 19 weeks of gestation and immediately after delivery. Development of type 1 diabetes around pregnancy is not rare, but its fulminant development is highly uncommon. We also review the relevant literature concerning mostly Japanese cases. In our cases, the group of patients with fulminant progressive diabetes mellitus associated with pregnancy required insulin replacement therapy even after the acute period and showed high value of pancreatic exocrine enzymes, i.e. amylase, elastase, and lipase. The phenotype of this group was similar to "nonautoimmune, fulminant type 1 diabetes" described by Imagawa et al., where the laboratory data of type 1 diabetes-related autoantibodies showed negative. It is well known that autoimmune diseases are in good control during pregnancy. Our present finding suggests that this type of fulminant type 1 diabetes mellitus associated with pregnancy might develop as a consequence of a nonautoimmune mechanism.