Prevalence of cardiac autonomic neuropathy in patients with diabetes.

ABSTRACT

Background: Autonomic neuropathy is a serious complication of diabetes mellitus. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is chronic diabetic complication with variable prevalence and clinical manifestations. Prevalence of CAN remains less explored domain among type 2 diabetic population. Aim: To analyse the prevalence of CAN in type 1 and type 2 DM. Materials and methods: A total of 152 cases with DM were selected for the study following strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. All the cases underwent a battery of cardiovascular reflex tests designed by Ewing. Results: We observed that overall prevalence of CAN was 51.9%. Prevalence of sympathetic and parasympathetic CAN was 28.9% and 44% respectively. When compared, prevalence of CAN in type 1 patients was significantly different from type 2. Further, significant difference was noted between parasympathetic and sympathetic CAN in these patients. Conclusion: Study concludes that, prevalence of CAN in type 1 DM is higher than type 2. Parasympathetic CAN prevalence is higher than sympathetic CAN in both groups.