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Lactic acidosis in diabetics
Abstract
Eleven diabetic patients were admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital during the past year with severe lactic acidosis; 8 patients recovered and 3 died. All were middle-aged or elderly, taking phenformin, and suffering from a complicating disorder including Gram-negative septicaemia, shock, chronic hepatic disease and chronic renal disease. In some the complicating feature was not in itself serious, either a short anaesthetic or an upper respiratory tract infection, or minor alcohol ingestion. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to a serious complication of phenformin therapy in the patient who has any predisposition to the accumulation of lactic acid.
S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 2021 (1974).
S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 2021 (1974).