Possible involvement of hypersecretion of ADH in hyponatremia in a diabetic patient complicated with severe...

The present case was a 44-year-old man who had been diagnosed as having noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus 2 years before admission. He gradually showed severe neuropathy and emaciation because of poor control of his blood glucose levels. He was admitted to our hospital because of disturbance of consciousness with hyponatremia. The endocrinological findings including thyroid and adrenal functions revealed no abnormalities. Insufficiency of water diuresis was noted in the water loading test. Severe orthostatic hypotension was noted during the standing up test, and an excessive response in the plasma ADH level was also noted. These findings demonstrated that excessive ADH secretion occurred to compensate for the fall in blood pressure because of the breakdown of homeostatic regulation in blood pressure due to diabetic neuropathy. It is suggested that hyponatremia seemed to be subsequently induced by hypersecretion of ADH.