[Diabetes mellitus in idiopathic haemochromatosis (author's transl)].

In 28 out of 40 patients with idiopathic haemochromatosis manifest diabetes mellitus could be demonstrated 19 patients required insulin. Treatment of diabetes with or without insulin was problem-free. In only two patients there was an insulin resistance which required high doses of insulin some of the time. There was a family history of diabetes in eleven patients. Minimal diabetic retinopathy in two patients was the only typical complication specific to diabetes. Severe forms of microangiopathy are seldom seen in haemochromatosis diabetes. This form of diabetes is probably mainly of genetic origin. Liver cirrhosis and fibrosis and possibly pancreatic siderosis are additional factors to be considered. A sufficiently long and intensive venesection treatment leads to clinical improvement in the diabetes in only a small fraction of the haemochromatosis patients.