Treatment with CSII in two infants with neonatal diabetes mellitus

This article reports the case studies of two children with neonatal onset of diabetes who were treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) from within 4 d to 3 wk of the diagnosis. The aim was to describe diabetes-related and insulin-pump-specific data in relation to growth and various feeding patterns when using CSII in infants with diabetes during their first year of life. The two children's medical records were scrutinized. The results showed that both children had good metabolic control [median hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) 5.3 and 5.7%, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, reference: 3.4-5.0%. Compared with the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) HbA1c units, Swedish units give approximately 1% point lower results]. No episodes of severe hypoglycemia or diabetic ketoacidosis have been demonstrated. The children had normal growth patterns, as they followed a normal feeding regime for their age. The meal doses of insulin were given over 12 min to 3 h. The children had diluted Humalog((R)) insulin 10 U/mL (Eli Lilly & Co, Indianapolis, IN, USA) in their pumps. Different types of insulin pumps were used, namely, the Minimed 507C and 508 (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA), and a Disetronic H-tron V100 (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland). The children used different types of infusion sets. Neither family reported any technical problems with their pump system. CSII was an effective and safe treatment for the two children suffering from neonatal diabetes. This offers an alternative for other infants with a similar diagnosis.