Hypoglycemia in the Newborn and Infant

A newborn or infant with hypoglycemia presents an urgent diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The clinical features must be rapidly assessed and a plan of action developed based on the infant’s age, maternal and parturition history, severity and persistence of hypoglycemia, and all other relevant clinical clues for definitive diagnosis and treatment. In this chapter, we review the normal physiology of glucose metabolism and the pathophysiology of the most common disorders resulting in hypoglycemia in the neonate and infant, with an emphasis on the approach to the diagnosis and management of these pathologies.