Case report: plasma adrenalin in a child with ketotic hypoglycemia and calcifications of the suprarenal glands.

Urinary excretion of adrenalin has been reported to be reduced during insulin-induced hypoglycemia in a significant proportion of children having ketotic hypoglycemia. By employing a sensitive double-isotope derivative technique, plasma adrenalin and plasma noradrenalin were determined in a boy 6 years 9 months old who had had ketotic hypoglycemia with intermittent hypoglycemic symptoms from the age of 10 months. Bilateral calcifications of the suprarenal glands were present. The adrenocortical function was normal. The plasma adrenalin response to hypoglycemia were practically absent, being only 4% of the value obtained in healthy children. The results were related to previous findings of a low plasma adrenalin response in patients with ketotic hypoglycemia without adrenal calcifications and support the assumption that ketotic hypoglycemia is associated with hypoadrenalinemia.