Clinical characteristics of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in children at diagnosis.

The clinical characteristics of 60 consecutive children < 16 years in a Swedish county with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus, are described. Twenty-four of them were 5.0-9.9 years old. The fathers of 12% had diabetes. There was no seasonal variation in the onset of diabetes. Presenting symptoms were polyuria and polydipsia in more than 90% of the cases. School children had a longer duration of symptoms than pre-school children. Most of the children were in a good state of health, and none were unconscious on admission. HbA1C was a good indicator of diabetes duration (R2 = 0.32). Patients with Coxsackie B IgM antibodies had lower blood glucose than those without such detectable antibodies.