Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions
Is Confirmatory BGM Needed in T1D Patients Using CGM?
Diabetes Care; ePub 2017 Feb 16; Aleppo, et al
Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) works just as well with or without blood glucose monitoring (BGM) confirmation in well-controlled adults with type 1 diabetes, according to randomized noninferiority clinical trial involving 226 individuals.
Participants were ≥18 years of age, had type 1 diabetes for ≥1 year, used an insulin pump, and had an HbA1c ≤9%. Investigators randomly assigned them to CGM-only (n=149) or CGM+BGM (n=77). Both groups completed the 2 BGM tests/day requited for CGM calibration. They looked at how long patients were within the range of 70 and 180 mg/dL over a 26-week period. Among the results:
- CGM use averaged just under 7 days in both groups.
- The CGM-only group averaged 2.8 BGM tests per day; those in the CGM+BGM group averaged 5.4 tests daily.
- Both groups were in the target range ~64% of the time at baseline and 26 weeks.
- There were no severe hypoglycemic events in the CGM-only group; 1 occurred in the CGM+BGM contingent.
Aleppo G, Ruedy K, Riddlesworth T, et al. REPLACE-BG: A randomized trial comparing continuous glucose monitoring with and without routine blood glucose monitoring in well-controlled adults with type 1 diabetes. [Published online ahead of print February 16, 2017]. Diabetes Care. doi:10.2337/dc16-2482.