title: Important causes of hypoglycaemia in patients with diabetes on peritoneal dialysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Diabetes is now the commonest cause of end-stage renal failure, so there are many diabetic patients receiving dialysis therapy. There are several important ways in which dialysis practice can impinge unfavourably on glucose control. This study focuses on the interaction between maltose-derived metabolites in a new peritoneal dialysis fluid and blood glucose measurements using reagent sticks that depend on the glucose dehydrogenase method.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report the cases of three patients, with insulin-treated diabetes and end-stage renal disease treated with peritoneal dialysis, who experienced symptomatic hypoglycaemia with inaccurate glucose readings on reagent strips when converted to icodextrin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Careful teamwork between diabetes and renal physicians and specialist nurses is highly desirable to achieve good glucose control in a group of patients at particular risk of microvascular and macrovascular complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Guy's Hospital, Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mehmet
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goldsmith
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000209:etiology*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects*