A case of immune-mediated type 1 diabetes mellitus due to congenital rubella infection

Abstract

Congenital rubella infection is a transplacental infection that can cause intrauterine growth retardation, cataracts, patent ductus arteriosus, hearing loss, microcephaly, thrombocytopenia, and severe fetal injury. It has been shown that type 1 diabetes mellitus develops in 12%–20% of patients with congenital rubella infection, and disorders in the oral glucose tolerance test is observed in 40% of patients. No biochemical or serological markers exist which could indicate that type 1 diabetes was caused by a congenital rubella infection. We report a 13-year-old male patient who was admitted to our hospital with complaints of new-onset polyuria, polydipsia, urination, and weight loss. In addition, he was found to have neurosensory hearing loss, patent ductus arteriosus, and microcephaly. Immune-mediated type 1 diabetes mellitus was considered due to the fact that the autoantibodies of diabetes mellitus were positive.