Case Study: using a continuous glucose monitoring system in a patient with diabetes and beta-thalassemia hemoglobinopathy.
Optimum glycemic control is extremely important in patients with diabetes mellitus to avoid long-term complications. Glycemic control relies mainly on the use of hemoglobin A1c, which unfortunately showed inaccurate results in patients with hemoglinopathies. The authors describe a case of beta-thalassemia with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus that has misleading low levels of HbA1c. The use of a continuous glucose monitoring system was useful in documenting her poor glycemic control, with prolonged periods of hyper- and hypoglycemia. Based on these results, her insulin regimen was adjusted and the blood glucose levels were greatly improved throughout and the patient was able to meet her target blood glucose range (72-140 mg/dL [4-7.8 mmol/L]) in 70% of the time.
Al-Futaisi
Abdulla
A
Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.
Wali
Yasser
Y
El-Beshlawi
Ismail
I
Al-Riyami
Shaden
S
Almahrezi
Abdulaziz
A
D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications
D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human