Autologous Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Newly Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
- Pablo R. Olmos, MD polmos@med.puc.clDepartment of Nutrition, Diabetes, and Metabolism;
- Gisella Borzone, MD, PhDDepartment of Respiratory DiseasesCollege of MedicinePontificia Universidad Católica de ChileSantiago, Chile
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- CYTOMEGALOVIRUS INFECTIONS
- DATA INTERPRETATION, STATISTICAL
- DIABETES MELLITUS, TYPE 1
- EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS INFECTIONS
- GLYCEMIC INDEX
- HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION
- HEMOGLOBIN A, GLYCOSYLATED
- INSULIN
- SURVIVAL
- TRANSPLANTATION, AUTOLOGOUS
To the Editor: The study by Dr Couri and colleagues1 provided follow-up of a preliminary report.2 The current article included 23 patients, with a mean follow-up that was increased from 18.8 to 29.8 months.
After removing from the analysis 3 patients who were not able to have insulin suspended, the authors stated that 12 of 20 patients (60%) remained insulin-free for a mean of 31 months after transplantation. We consider this a biased analysis; including the 3 nonresponders would have indicated a success rate of 12 of 23 (52.1%).
In addition, we are concerned about reporting a crude success rate after a mean follow-up of 29.8 months. In a longitudinal trial, actuarial (life-table) analysis of the data would have been more appropriate. The data should be available in Table 1 to conduct such an analysis.
Financial Disclosures: None reported.
Letters Section Editor: Robert M. Golub, MD, Senior Editor.
