Diabetic ketoacidosis with extreme hypernatremia in a 4-year-old girl

Abstract

A 4-year-old girl admitted with altered mental status, new-onset diabetes mellitus, and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) had a rapid rise in serum sodium from 158 mEq/L (corrected sodium 165 mEq/L) at the admission to 204 mEq/L within 18 hours of admission despite standard fluid and insulin therapy recommended for the treatment of DKA. During her illness, she developed arterial and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), bloodstream infection with Candida species, and extensive skin blistering and denudation. The child needed mechanical ventilation, insulin infusion, careful fluid titration to bring down the sodium gradually, and low-molecular weight heparin for her DVT. She had a prolonged Intensive Care Unit and hospital stay but recovered completely without any neurological sequelae.