title: Diabetes mellitus in patients with thalassemia major.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Meng-Ju
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Steven Shinn-Forng
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Meng-Yao
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hsiu-Hao
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yung-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shiann-Tarng
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Jou
authors.forename: Dong-Tsamn
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Kai-Hsin
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D010179:Pancreas / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000150:complications*
keywords: T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); diabetes; thalassemia major