Differential Diagnosis: Hypoglycemia

Shanna Hillsman, LVMT, University of Tennessee

M. Katherine Tolbert, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM), Texas A&M University

ArticleLast Updated September 20181 min readPeer Reviewed
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Following are differential diagnoses, listed in order of likeliness, for patients presented with hypoglycemia.

  • Spurious (eg, storage artifact)

  • Neonates (typically <6 weeks of age; normal finding or related to another condition [eg, portosystemic shunt])

  • Toy-breed puppy (can occur in healthy puppies when fasting or if no access to nursing)

  • Exogenous insulin overdose

  • Hepatic failure

  • Portosystemic shunt

  • Hypoadrenocorticism

  • Sepsis

  • Systemic inflammatory response syndrome

  • Insulinoma

  • Xylitol toxicity

  • Paraneoplastic syndrome (eg, leiomyoma/leiomyosarcoma, hepatoma)

  • High-intensity exercise

  • Pituitary dwarfism

  • Glycogen storage disease

  • Renal glucosuria

  • Polycythemia

  • Oleander toxicity

  • Amphetamine-dextroamphetamine toxicity

  • Trypanosoma congolense infection (only in specific geographic regions)