Hepatic glycogenosis: An underdiagnosed complication of diabetes mellitus?

Hepatic glycogenosis (HG) is characterized by excessive glycogen accumulation in hepatocytes and represents a hepatic complication of diabetes that particularly occurs in patients with longstanding poorly controlled type 1 diabetes (T1D). HG has been reported to be a very rare disease, although it is believed to be extremely underdiagnosed because it is not possible to distinguish it from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) unless a liver biopsy is performed. In contrast to HG, NAFLD is characterized by liver fat accumulation and is the more likely diagnosis for patients with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.