Abstract
The occurrence and duration of clinical remission were analyzed in 173 diabetic children. One hundred and twelve (65%) children experienced a remission, which was complete in only five (3%) cases. Duration varied from one month to three years, the mean being 8.5 months. Boys showed a more frequent and longer remission phase (p less than 0.01) than girls. Children with a negative remission history were younger (p less than 0.05) at the onset of diabetes than children having remission periods. Duration of remission correlated positively with age at onset (rs = 0.19; p less than 0.01) and the non-fasting serum C-peptide concentration (rs = 0.31; p less than 0.001). There was a negative correlation between duration of remission and daily insulin dose (r = -0.23; p less than 0.005). We found no correlation between duration of remission and duration of diabetes or hemoglobin A1 (HbA1) concentrations beyond the remission period. Serum C-peptide concentrations correlated negatively with HbA1 levels (rs = -0.23; p less than 0.001) indicating that residual B-cell function favors good metabolic control. There was a negative correlation between HbA1 concentration and duration of diabetes (r= -0.30; p less than 0.001). Clinical remission of...Continue Reading