Diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in thalassaemia major: incidence, prevalence, risk factors and survival in patients followed in the Ferrara Center.

Two hundred and seventy-three patients with thalassaemia major (TM) were followed in the Ferrara Thalassaemia Centre over a thirty-year period. Forty-two patients had insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). The first case was diagnosed in 1973.