Neuropathic cachexia associated with type 1 diabetes in an adolescent girl

Background Diabetic neuropathic cachexia is a rare and little understood variant of diabetic neuropathy. It predominantly affects men with type 2 diabetes mellitus in their sixth to seventh decades of life and is characterized by the subacute onset of a painful sensory neuropathy, rapid weight loss, and psychiatric comorbidity. Methods We present the only female pediatric case described to date, and one of only a handful of cases reported to affect type 1 diabetics. Results In this patient a diagnosis of diabetic neuropathic cachexia was based on the rapid onset of severe allodynic pain, polyneuropathy, and marked weight loss in the setting of poorly controlled diabetes, without evidence of end-organ disease and exclusion of other known causes of neuropathy. Conclusions Diabetic neuropathic cachexia is a complex neuroendocrinologic disorder characterized by profound weight loss, neuropathic pain, and mood disturbance. Electrodiagnostic abnormalities were pronounced showing a moderately severe generalized sensorimotor polyneuropathy.