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Ann Saudi MedAnn Saudi MedAnnals of Saudi Medicine0256-49470975-4466King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre 10.5144/0256-4947.2012.437aasm-4-437aCommentsRe: Glycogen hepatopathy in a 13-year-old male with type 1 diabetes Al-Mendalawi Mahmood From the Paediatrics Al-Kindy College of Medicine, Baghdad UniversityCorrespondence: Prof. Mahmood Al-Mendalawi, Paediatrics, Al-Kindy College of Medicine, Baghdad University, P.O. Box 55302, Baghdad Post Office, Baghdad, Iraq, mdalmendalawi@yahoo.comJul-Aug 2012 32 4 437 437 Copyright © 2012, Annals of Saudi Medicine2012This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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To the Editor: Great thanks are due to Aljabri et al1 for expanding pediatricians’ alertness on the glycogen hepatopathy in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Though the studied patient had a 3-year history of T1DM, it should be noted that hepatic glycogenosis could occur at any stage of T1DM and might even be one of its earliest manifestations, together with those classically reported at the onset of T1DM. Since long-standing hyperglycemia and overinsulinisation are metabolic prerequisites for hepatic glycogen storage, liver glycogenosis should be expected to be not uncommon during the first phases of T1DM, especially in the cases that are initially treated with supraphysiological insulin doses.2 Also, it should be noted that the studied patient needs to be kept under regular follow-up as recurrent hepatomegaly and elevated transaminases are not uncommon. Should recurrence occur, genetic analysis of the liver glycogen phosphorylase gene is suggested.3
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REFERENCES
1 Aljabri KS  Bokhari SA  Fageeh SM  Alharbi AM  Abaza MA   Glycogen hepatopathy in a 13-year-old male with type 1 diabetes Ann Saudi Med 2011 31 424 7 21727748 
2 Carcione L  Lombardo F  Messina MF  Rosano M  De Luca F   Liver glycogenosis as early manifestation in type 1 diabetes mellitus Diabetes Nutr Metab 2003 16 182 4 14635736 
3 Tomihira M  Kawasaki E  Nakajima H  Imamura Y  Sato Y  Sata M    Intermittent and recurrent hepatomegaly due to glycogen storage in a patient with type 1 diabetes: genetic analysis of the liver glycogen phosphorylase gene (PYGL) Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2004 65 175 82 15223230