Incremental Value of Continuous Glucose Monitoring When Starting Pump Therapy in Patients With Poorly Controlled Type 1 Diabetes

The RealTrend study*

  1. Denis Raccah, MD, PHD1,
  2. Véronique Sulmont, MD2,
  3. Yves Reznik, MD, PHD3,
  4. Bruno Guerci, MD, PHD4,
  5. Eric Renard, MD, PHD5,
  6. Hélène Hanaire, MD, PHD6,
  7. Nathalie Jeandidier, MD, PHD7 and
  8. Marc Nicolino, MD, PHD8
  1. 1University Hospital Sainte Marguerite, Marseille, France;
  2. 2American Memorial Hospital, Children's Hospital, Reims, France;
  3. 3Côte de Nacre Hospital, Caen, France;
  4. 4Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy and University of Nancy, Nancy, France;
  5. 5Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier and University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France;
  6. 6Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse and University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France;
  7. 7University Louis Pasteur Hospital, Strasbourg, France;
  8. 8Hospital Femme-Mère-Enfant, Lyon, France.
  1. Corresponding author: Denis Raccah, denis.raccah{at}mail.ap-hm.fr.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To compare the improvements in glycemic control associated with transitioning to insulin pump therapy in patients using continuous glucose monitoring versus standard blood glucose self-monitoring.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The RealTrend study was a 6-month, randomized, parallel-group, two-arm, open-label study of 132 adults and children with uncontrolled type 1 diabetes (A1C ≥8%) being treated with multiple daily injections. One group was fitted with the Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time system (PRT group), an insulin pump with integrated continuous subcutaneous glucose monitoring (CGM) capability, with instructions to wear CGM sensors at least 70% of the time. Conventional insulin pump therapy was initiated in the other group (continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion [CSII] group). Outcome measures included A1C and glycemic variability.

RESULTS A total of 115 patients completed the study. Between baseline and trial end, A1C improved significantly in both groups (PRT group −0.81 ± 1.09%, P < 0.001; CSII group −0.57 ± 0.94%, P < 0.001), with no significant difference between groups. When the 91 patients who were fully protocol-compliant (including CGM sensor wear ≥70% of the time) were considered, A1C improvement was significantly greater in the PRT group (P = 0.004) (PRT group −0.96 ± 0.93%, P < 0.001; CSII group −0.55 ± 0.93%, P < 0.001). Hyperglycemia parameters decreased in line with improvements in A1C with no impact on hypoglycemia.

CONCLUSIONS CGM-enabled insulin pump therapy improves glycemia more than conventional pump therapy during the first 6 months of pump use in patients who wear CGM sensors at least 70% of the time.

Footnotes

  • Clinical trial registry no. NCT00441129, clinicaltrials.gov.

  • *Additional study investigators are listed in the appendix.

  • The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

    • Received April 21, 2009.
    • Accepted August 29, 2009.
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