ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Children’s type 1 diabetes is a rare entity, its prevalence is still poorly known, which makes its diagnosis, therapeutic management and prognosis increasingly difficult and uncodified. The purpose of our study is to report the experience of the Endocrinology - Diabetology and Nutrition Department in the management of diabetes in children.

Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive study including 12 children hospitalized in the Endocrinology-Diabetology and Nutrition Department for the management of diabetes diagnosed before the age of 24 months. All patients underwent a clinical examination and a biological check-up. The statistical analysis was performed with SPSS- Version 21 software.

Résults: The average age at admission to the department was 24±9,6 months, and the average age at diagnosis was 12±6 months, with a clear male predominance, (sex ratio M/F: 2,1). Consanguinity was present in only one case (8.3%), diabetes in the family was present in 83.8% of cases. The reasons for hospitalization were various; 8 cases for inaugural diabetes, (66.7%), and 4 cases for unbalanced diabetes (33%). The mode of discovery was ketoacidosis in 66.7% of the cases. 83.3% of cases had cardinal syndrome before diagnosis. The clinical examination found a height and weight delay in 4 cases, and a height advance in 5 cases. The mean HBA1C was 10 ±1.2%. Positive anti-GAD antibodies were found in 50% of cases, and positive anti IA2 antibodies were found in 41.6% of cases. Only 58.3% of cases benefited from the rest of autoimmunity biological analysis, we found anti-TPO antibodies positive in 1 case, and anti-transglutaminase antibodies positive in 2 cases. In terms of therapy, 50% of our patients were under basal bolus insulinotherapy, and 50% on a mixing insulinotherapy, afterwards, one patient benefited from the insulin pump due to low insulin needs and the presence of hypoglycemia, with a switch to a basal bolus schema in 2 patients who were previously on a 2-mix insulinotherapy.

Discussion-Conclusion: Nowadays the incidence of diabetes in children is clearly increasing, it is a diagnostic emergency that requires urgent and specialized management, hence the need for a global awareness of the medical staff on the different ways of discovery.