Lipemia Retinalis: Report of a Case in a Diabetic Child Aged Twenty-Eight Months and Review of the Literature

Lipemia retinalis is a visible ophthalmic manifestation of a profound disturbance in lipid metabolism. It occurs most frequently in association with diabetes concomitant with acidosis of a more or less severe degree. Only an ophthalmologist who has been lucky enough to see the fundus of a patient with lipemia retinalis can appreciate Heyl's¹ astonishment when, in 1880, he described its "remarkable appearance" for the first time.

The case of a 28-month-old boy presented here shares with that of Koch and Strong⁴⁸ the distinction of being the youngest diabetic with lipemia retinalis reported to date.

Case History  A white boy, aged 28 months, was admitted to the Montreal Children's Hospital on Oct. 9, 1956. He had been well until three weeks prior to admission, when easy fatiguability and refusal to play were noted. A week later it was realized that his appetite, previously exceptionally good, had diminished, although he