Cystic Fibrosis-Related Diabetes in Poland

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common autosomal recessive inherited monogenic disease in Caucasians. As medical technology progresses and the quality of patient care improves, the survival time of patients with CF has increased, which results in more frequent comorbidities such as cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD). CFRD is the result of abnormal glucose metabolism characterized primarily by insulin deficiency, exacerbated periodically by insulin resistance. The aim of our study was to analyze the epidemiology of patients with CFRD in Poland on the basis of data collected from six CF treatment centers. Analyses were performed on 1157 CF patients who were treated at one of the six CF care centers. CFRD was diagnosed according to standard criteria. All data including demographics, types of CFTR mutations, CFRD duration, and microorganisms in the sputum were obtained from the patients’ medical history. Our study indicates that the prevalence of CFRD in Poland is 12.9%. CFRD was most often diagnosed between the ages of 11 and 20 (60% of patients), while 23% of patients were diagnosed between 21 and 30 years of age. Furthermore, we observed that approximately 3–5% of patients under the age of 10 had CFRD. We found out that the type of mutation did not affect the frequency of CFRD development. Factors that increased the risk of developing CFRD include underweight and chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Due to the extended lifespan of CF patients, the number of CFRD patients is currently increasing. We believe that the results of our study may complement information from other studies or may be useful in planning health policy in Poland.