Hallucinations and Diabetes – Could it be the Hip? An Interesting Case of Cobalt Poisoning

Cobalt (Co) poisoning has been described historically in beer-drinkers when cobalt was used as an additive. In present times, this type of poisoning is usually caused by occupational exposure or metal prosthesis breakdown. We present a case of Co poisoning from metal prosthesis breakdown with exceptionally high levels, and thus, some unique symptoms. Interestingly our patient not only had symptoms commonly associated with Co poisoning, e.g., paresthesia, sensory-neural hearing loss, acute kidney failure, but also developed new onset diabetes, which is not commonly associated with this type of pathology. Moreover, when we had this patient under our care, we had limited literature to guide management, and the patient was managed based on expert opinion. To conclude, we present this case in the hope that we can pave way for structured studies.