The Heart was Hungrier than the Brain: Hypoglycemia-induced Ventricular Tachycardia in a Conscious Diabetic Patient

Abstract

This case report is about a 58 years old male diabetic patient presented multiple times at outdoor (OPD) for routine follow up of diabetes always in asymptomatic, fully conscious, and oriented condition, and on multiple occasion of his OPD visit, he was found to have ventricle tachycardia (VT) on ECG with concurrent hypoglycemia (blood sugar <60 mg/dl). No antiarrhythmic treatment was needed because ventricle tachycardia subsided immediately after correction of hypoglycemia on each and every time he is having it, thus favoring hypoglycemic etiology of VT. Every time patient was having documented hypoglycemia, his heart always showed concurrent VT but the brain never showed altered consciousness or disorientation. It seems like his heart was more hungry than his brain. After an extensive search, no similar case report was found having only isolated VT at each and every episode of documented hypoglycemia. Glucose is the main fuel for the human brain. Higher mental functions were well tolerant to hypoglycemia but his heart used to respond quickly in form of VT.