Abstract
Up to the end of 20th century type 1 diabetes mellitus was considered to be the only important cause of hyperglycemia in children and adolescents. Although this type of diabetes remains the essential part of everyday clinical practice in pediatric diabetology we learn to recognize other causes of mild hyperglycemia in children and adolescent patients. Nowadays differential diagnostics of asymptomatic hyperglycemia in children and adolescents includes various conditions as follows:
1. presymptomatic phase of type 1 diabetes mellitus,
2. type 2 diabetes mellitus,
3. genetic syndromes including diabetes mellitus (for example DIDMOAD syndrome),
4. autosomal-dominant inherited form of diabetes mellitus - MODY diabetes,
5. various specific types of neonatal diabetes and
6. transient stress-induced hyperglycemia. Correct recognition of the true cause of hyperglycemia is essential because different conditions require different treatment and entail significantly different prognosis.