Real-life experience of patients starting insulin degludec. A multicenter analysis of 1064 subjects from the German/Austrian DPV registry.

BACKGROUND: The long-acting insulin analogue degludec is a therapeutic option for patients with type 1 (T1D) or type 2 diabetes (T2D). Aim of this analysis was to investigate differences in clinical characteristics of patients before and after initiating degludec use in a cohort of German/Austrian patients. METHODS: 1064 subjects with T1D/T2D and documented degludec use from the Diabetes-Patient-Follow-Up (DPV) registry were included. The follow-up cohort (n=421) comprised patients with available data before and 3-15months after switching to degludec. A t-test for paired values was implemented to compare rates of severe hypoglycaemia, and mean values for HbA1C, BMI, basal insulin dose/kg bodyweight/day, and the number of basal insulin injections/day before and after switching to degludec Results were stratified by type of diabetes. In T1D, subgroup analyses were conducted (age, sex, basal insulin used before switching). P<0.05 was considered significant. FINDINGS: In T1D (n=360), basal insulin dose (0.43±0.17 to 0.38±0.13IU) and the number of basal injections/day (1.7±0.6 to 1.1±0.3) decreased whereas BMI increased from 23.2±4.8 to 24.0±5.0kg/m2 (all p<0.0001) after switching to degludec. No significant changes were observed regarding rates of severe hypoglycaemia or HbA1C-values. Findings were comparable for subgroups. In T2D (n=61), basal insulin dose (0.41±0.23 to 0.38±0.21; p=0.1730) and the number of basal injections/day (1.3±0.4 to 1.1±0.3; p=0.0097) decreased after switching to degludec. HbA1C improved from 7.9±1.6 to 7.1±1.5% (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The DPV registry provides data from real-life diabetes care. Our analysis predominantly confirmed results from clinical trials and provides additional information complementing the clinical study program of degludec.

Medical care of obese children and adolescents. APV: a standardised multicentre documentation derived to study initial presentation and cardiovascular risk factors in patients transferred to specialised treatment institutions.

UNLABELLED: So far in Europe, no studies have been published on the structuring of medical care for obese children and adolescents. Besides anthropometric parameters, evaluations of the cardiovascular risk factors hypertension, dyslipidaemia, impaired glucose metabolism and treatment modalities were documented in a standardised multicentre evaluation survey (APV) of 18 primarily outpatient and nine rehabilitation institutions. In total, 3837 children (aged 2-20 years) took part in the years 2000 up to March 2003, of whom 1985 were treated in outpatient institutions and 1852 in rehabilitation institutions. Of these children, 10% were overweight, 37% obese, 49% extremely obese and 4% of normal weight at initial presentation. The frequencies of diagnostic procedures performed and documented were low (measurement of blood pressure 43%, lipids 40%, glucose metabolism 21%). In the subgroup of obese children who were screened for cardiovascular risk factors, 23% suffered from hypertension, 11% displayed increased cholesterol, 9% increased low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, 29% increased triglycerides, 11% decreased high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and 6% had impaired glucose metabolism. CONCLUSION: Despite the high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in obese children and adolescents confirmed in this report, diagnostic procedures failed in a considerable percentage even in specialised treatment centres for obese children and adolescents. In future, the feedback based on standardised evaluation of diagnostic and treatment procedures should aim to improve the quality of medical care.

Five-year follow-up of a 13-year-old boy with a pituitary adenoma causing gigantism--effect of octreotide therapy.

BACKGROUND/AIM: In children, there is little experience with octreotide therapy for pituitary tumors, especially growth hormone (GH) producing adenomas. We report on a 13-year-old boy with gigantism due to a GH-producing pituitary adenoma caused by a Gsalpha mutation on the basis of McCune-Albright syndrome. METHODS: At the age of 6.5 years a GH- and prolactin-producing pituitary adenoma was diagnosed. The adenoma was surgically removed. Immediately thereafter, the small adenoma residuum was treated with octreotide (2 x 100 microg/day s.c.). RESULTS: During therapy with octreotide, the growth rate dropped to normal values; however, rose again after 2 years of treatment. The insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels remained above the 95th percentile, the GH level mostly >2 microg/l. After 5 years of octreotide therapy, GH (6.9 microg/l), IGF-I (620 microg/l), IGF-binding protein 3 (5.4 mg/l), and prolactin (17.0 ng/ml) levels were still elevated. The growth velocity was +2.4 SDS (standard deviation score), the pubertal status was mature, and the bone age was 14.3 years (prospective final height 208 cm). A magnetic resonance imaging scan showed an unchanged residual 4-mm rim of adenoma at the pituitary site. Side effects from octreotide therapy were not reported by the patient or his family. The therapy was changed to the long-acting release octreotide analog octreotide-LAR. After 1 year of treatment with octreotide-LAR, the GH level was 1.0 microg/l, and the prospective final height dropped by 10 cm. CONCLUSIONS: This case demonstrates that combined surgical and medical treatment can influence the prognosis of childhood gigantism; however, the prognosis of this rare condition remains uncertain.