Abstract
Background
The prevalence of monogenic diabetes is estimated to be 1–5% of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). The overlapping clinical features of various forms of diabetes make differential diagnosis challenging. Therefore, this study investigated the etiologic distribution and clinical characteristics of pediatric diabetes, including monogenic diabetes, in a single tertiary center over the last 20 years.
Methods
This study included 276 consecutive patients with DM diagnosed before 18 years of age from January 2000 to December 2019. Clinical features, biochemical findings, β-cell autoantibodies, and molecular characteristics were reviewed retrospectively.
Results
Of the 276 patients, 206 patients (74.6%), 49 patients (17.8%), and 21 patients (7.6%) were diagnosed with type 1 DM, type 2 DM, and clinically suspected monogenic diabetes, respectively. Among 21 patients with suspected monogenic diabetes, 8 patients had clinical maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), and the remaining 13 patients had other types of monogenic diabetes. Among them, genetic etiologies were identified in 14 patients (5.1%) from 13 families, which included MODY 5, transient neonatal DM, developmental delay, epilepsy, and neonatal diabetes (DEND) syndrome, Wolfram syndrome, Donohue syndrome, IPEX syndrome, Fanconi-Bickel syndrome, Wolcott-Rallison syndrome, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, and maternally inherited diabetes and deafness.
Conclusions
Genetically confirmed monogenic diabetes accounts for 5.1% of patients referred to pediatric endocrinology clinics. The frequency of mutations in the major genes of MODY is low among pediatric patients in Korea. Identification of the genetic cause of DM is critical to provide appropriate therapeutic options and genetic counseling.