Fulminant Type 1 Diabetes in Children: A Multicenter Study in China

BACKGROUND: To investigate the hospital-based incidence of FT1D in Chinese children and compare the clinical feature with classical T1DM. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with sixteen hospitals involved. We obtained 23 FT1D cases as group 1, acute-onset T1DM as group 2, and typical T1DM as group 3. RESULTS: The incidence of FT1D was 1.56% in 16 participating hospitals. The mean age at the onset of group 1 was 2.00 (1.08, 6.51) years old, much younger than that of group 2 (6.11 (3.92, 9.50)) and group 3 (6.92 (4.17, 10.03)). In addition, significant differences were found between three groups: mean BMI and flu-like symptoms with fever and abdominal pain. Follow-up comparison of three groups from Beijing Children's Hospital for at least one year showed that there is no significant difference between the three groups in terms of mean HbA1c levels and insulin injection dosages. CONCLUSION: FT1D onset age is much younger than that of classical T1D patients. The hospital-based incidence of FT1D in Chinese children was 1.56% in all new-onset T1DM. For the diagnosis, making FT1D alone into a subtype within type 1 diabetes may be meaningful. However, for the treatment and prognosis, such classification should not be helpful to the clinic.