Falls due to hypoglycaemia in the elderly is usually a complication of diabetic 
treatment. In the absence of diabetes, hypoglycaemia may be due to insulin or 
insulin-like producing tumours. The Doege-Potter syndrome is a rare 
paraneoplastic syndrome, characterised by non-islet cell tumour hypoglycaemia 
(NICTH) secondary to a solitary fibrous tumour that secretes insulin-like growth 
factor (IGF) 2. Definitive treatment of hypoglycaemia due to NICTH is by tumour 
resection. Our patient was a 78-year-old woman admitted after a fall with a 
facial injury and a history of significant weight loss. Her blood sugar was 
persistently low despite intravenous dextrose infusion. CT of the thorax 
revealed a large heterogeneous mass measuring 11.6×16.3×15.6 cm in the right 
hemithorax. A biopsy of the mass was reported as a solitary fibrous tumour. 
Biochemical investigations revealed low insulin, C-peptide, IGF-1 and a high 
IGF-2:IGF-1 ratio, consistent with NICTH. The patient underwent tumour resection 
and the hypoglycaemia normalised completely immediately after surgery.