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Diabetes mellitus in patients with thalassemia major
Author(s) -
Li MengJu,
Peng Steven ShinnForng,
Lu MengYao,
Chang HsiuHao,
Yang YungLi,
Jou ShiannTarng,
Lin DongTsamn,
Lin KaiHsin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
pediatric blood and cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.116
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1545-5017
pISSN - 1545-5009
DOI - 10.1002/pbc.24754
Subject(s) - medicine , diabetes mellitus , thalassemia , gastroenterology , pancreas , incidence (geometry) , insulin resistance , insulin , hepatitis c , endocrinology , physics , optics
Background Diabetes mellitus is a major endocrinopathy for patients with thalassemia major. Although diabetes mellitus is multifactorial, iron loading is its primary cause and its management poses a clinical challenge. Detecting the pre‐diabetes stage is critical because clinical diabetes can potentially be reversed or prevented. Procedure Patients with thalassemia major who received regular blood transfusion therapy from 1994 to 2010 were evaluated for the incidence of diabetes mellitus and glucose dysregulation. The association between patients' clinical, biochemical, and image parameters was also evaluated. Results The patients with diabetes were significantly older, had higher ferritin levels, a smaller pancreas volume, and lower cardiac T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) values than the patients without diabetes. The pancreas T2* MRI values were higher in the patients without diabetes, but the difference was not statistically significant. The liver iron concentration did not differ between the patients with and without diabetes. The prevalence of hepatitis C infection and hypogonadism was also higher in the patients with diabetes. In the patients without diabetes, the cardiac T2* MRI values were higher in patients with normal fasting glucose levels ( P = 0.03), and the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance level was associated with hepatitis C infection ( P = 0.024, r = 0.32) and hypogonadism ( P = 0.034, r = 0.301). Conclusions Fasting glucose and insulin levels were appropriate screening tools for evaluating glucose dysregulation and complemented the MRI findings. The cardiac T2* and pancreas volumes were significant predictors of diabetes. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014;61:20–24. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.