Glycogenic hepatopathy is associated with type 1 diabetes mellitus in only a minority of cases in a contemporary adult population.

OBJECTIVES

This study examines the clinical-pathological profiles of patients with glycogenic hepatopathy in a contemporary cohort of patients at an adult acute care hospital.

METHODS

Liver biopsies with glycogenic hepatopathy were retrieved from the departmental surgical pathology database, the histological findings were studied, and the clinical findings were reviewed.

RESULTS

Five cases of glycogenic hepatopathy were found, including cases associated with type 1 diabetes mellitus (n = 1), type 2 diabetes mellitus (n = 1), corticosteroids (n = 2), and anorexia (n = 2, including the patient with type 1 diabetes). AST and ALT were normal to mildly elevated (13-115 U/L and 7-126 U/L, respectively). Trace ascites was present in two patients. Hepatomegaly was only present in the patient with type 1 diabetes at the time of diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Four of five cases were associated with etiologies other than type 1 diabetes, which is widely reported as the most common etiology of glycogenic hepatopathy. This study suggests that etiologies currently only rarely recognized may actually be more common causes of glycogenic hepatopathy than type 1 diabetes in a contemporary adult population. It is important not only to recognize that these rarely reported causes of glycogenic hepatopathy may be underrecognized, but that the clinical presentation may also be mild.