Hypoglycaemia-induced myocardial infarction as a result of sulphonylurea misuse.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent large-scale randomized trials of intensive therapy in Type 2 diabetes have reported increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patient populations who experience a high frequency of hypoglycaemic events. However, there are few descriptions of hypoglycaemia leading directly to a myocardial infarction (MI) in the medical literature to date. CASE REPORT: In this article we describe the case of a 76-year-old woman without diabetes who presented with symptoms, left bundle branch block and raised troponin, indicative of an MI. She was also noted to be hypoglycaemic with a plasma glucose level of 2.5 mmol/l. It was subsequently discovered that she had mistakenly been dispensed glibenclamide, a long-acting sulphonylurea, in the preceding weeks. Her cardiac symptoms resolved completely upon treatment of her hypoglycaemia and she had no significant coronary artery disease on angiography. CONCLUSION: This is the first case of sulphonylurea-induced MI in a patient without diabetes and illustrates the adverse effects of acute hypoglycaemia upon the cardiovascular system.