Abstract
AIM: In the pediatric diabetes clinic, patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) account for more than 90% of cases, while monogenic forms represent about 6%. Many monogenic diabetes subtypes may respond to therapies other than insulin and have chronic diabetes complication prognosis that is different from T1D. With the aim of providing a better diagnostic pipeline and a tailored care for patients with monogenic diabetes, we set up a monogenic diabetes clinic (MDC). METHODS: In the first 3 years of activity 97 patients with non-autoimmune forms of hyperglycemia were referred to MDC. Genetic testing was requested for 80 patients and 68 genetic reports were available for review. RESULTS: In 58 subjects hyperglycemia was discovered beyond 1 year of age (Group 1) and in 10 before 1 year of age (Group 2). Genetic variants considered causative of hyperglycemia were identified in 25 and 6 patients of Group 1 and 2, respectively, with a pick up rate of 43.1% (25/58) for Group 1 and 60% (6/10) for Group 2 (global pick-up rate: 45.5%; 31/68). When we considered probands of Group 1 with a parental history of hyperglycemia, 58.3% (21/36) had a positive genetic test for GCK or HNF1A genes, while pick-up rate was 18.1% (4/22) in patients with mute family history for diabetes. Specific treatments for each condition were administered in most cases. CONCLUSION: We conclude that MDC may contribute to provide a better diabetes care in the pediatric setting.