Hepatic Hypoglycemia

Abstract

MANN'S¹ classic experiments in 1921 first demonstrated that a normal concentration of blood sugar in the hepatectomized animal can be maintained only by a constant infusion of glucose. Spontaneous hypoglycemia has been described in man in cases of obvious liver damage due to cirrhosis, viral hepatitis, chemical poisoning, carcinoma and other processes.² Nevertheless, experience with various forms of liver disease at the Johns Hopkins Hospital indicates that episodes of hypoglycemia are frequently overlooked. Furthermore, it is not well appreciated that hepatic hypoglycemia may occur in the absence of other apparent evidence of impaired liver function. Conn et al.³ first made . . .