Social and Metabolic Characteristics Associated With Multiple DKA Admissions at a Large County Hospital.

Context: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a preventable, deadly, and costly complication of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Some individuals with T1DM have recurrent DKA admissions. Objective: We sought to characterize social factors that differ between patients with single vs multiple DKA admissions at an urban, safety-net hospital. Methods: We queried the electronic health records for T1DM patients admitted for DKA from 2019 to 2021. Admission laboratory values, demographic information, and detailed social histories were collected and analyzed statistically, including logistical regression. Results: A total of 243 patients were admitted for DKA, 64 of whom had multiple DKA admissions. There was no significant difference between the groups in their admission laboratory values, hospital length of stay, health-care payer status, history of homelessness, current employment, living alone, independence of activities of daily living, and barriers to discharge. T1DM patients with multiple DKA admissions had greater rates of substance use disorder (33.0% vs 60.9%; P < .001), especially with cannabis (6.7% vs 25.0%; P < .001), tobacco (26.3% vs 46.3%; P = .002), and psychoactive substance use (1.1% vs 6.3%; P = .043). Regression models of substance use showed increased risk with any substance use (odds ratio [CI] 3.17 [1.78-5.73]; P < .001) and cannabis (3.70 [1.55-8.83]; P = .003). Conclusion: We identified substance use as a possible predictor of T1DM patients at risk for multiple DKA admissions. Our findings identify a group of T1DM patients for whom interventions may help to decrease recurrence of DKA episodes within similar community hospital populations.

In vitro fertilization and hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis: Case report.

Few cases of hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis have been reported in women during a vitro fertilization treatment (IVF) cycle. Here, we describe a 41-year-old woman with primary infertility and a history of acute pancreatitis (of unknown etiology) who was started on high dose ethinyl estradiol to prepare for transfer of cryopreserved embryos. She subsequently presented with nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain to an emergency room and was found to have hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis. Her hospitalization involved a prolonged intensive care unit stay in which she underwent three sessions of plasmapheresis. Eventually, with discontinuation of ethinyl estrogen, aggressive intravenous fluid hydration, plasmapheresis, a low-fat diet, and gemfibrozil, she had resolution of severe hypertriglyceridemia and all symptoms related to acute pancreatitis. Our case highlights the possibility that ethinyl estradiol, a commonly used form of estrogen for endometrial preparation during IVF cycles, may cause severe hypertriglyceridemia and acute pancreatitis in certain predisposed individuals. Only seven cases of hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis during in vitro fertilization have been previously reported, and only one of these prior cases experienced pancreatitis during transfer of cryopreserved embryos like our patient. Our case, along with the few prior reported cases, demonstrate hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis can occur during IVF. Further work is needed to understand the effects of exogenous estrogen on lipids for women undergoing IVF.