Subject(s)
Calcinosis/epidemiology , Cardiomyopathies/epidemiology , Carotid Stenosis/epidemiology , Mitral Valve/pathology , Age Distribution , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Calcinosis/diagnostic imaging , Cardiomyopathies/diagnostic imaging , Carotid Stenosis/diagnostic imaging , Case-Control Studies , Cohort Studies , Comorbidity , Echocardiography/methods , Female , Humans , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Mitral Valve/diagnostic imaging , Prevalence , Risk Factors , Sensitivity and Specificity , Sex DistributionABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the asymptomatic involvement of the central and peripheral nervous systems may be an early complication of diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We studied early impairment of the central and peripheral nervous system pathways in 15 type I diabetic patients with good metabolic control and short disease duration and in 10 healthy control subjects using a set of neurophysiological tests. RESULTS: Results in diabetic subjects showed 1) impairment of motor (7% and somatosensory (13%) pathways of the central nervous system, 2) impairment of motor and sensory conduction velocities (40-60%), and 3) normal values of the vibration perception threshold and cardiovascular autonomic tests. CONCLUSIONS: The damage is more evident in peripheral sites where hyperglycemia and aldose reductase pathways are more active. Instead, several episodes of hypoglycemia, which occur in type I diabetic patients in good metabolic control, may cause alterations of brain nervous cells.
Subject(s)
Central Nervous System/physiopathology , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/physiopathology , Adult , Humans , Neural Conduction/physiology , Physical Stimulation , Psychomotor PerformanceABSTRACT
From an autopsy series of 346 patients who died of acute myocardial infarction, we selected 36 cases for whom echocardiographic data preceding death were available: 17 cases died from a rupture of the left ventricular free wall (group A) and 19 from pump failure (group B). Our aim was to investigate whether any echocardiographic parameter could predict the final event. The total wall motion score, regional wall motion score index and percent of abnormally contracting myocardium were calculated. Diastolic and systolic volumes, ejection fraction and the eccentricity index, as a rough indicator of the left ventricular shape, were also estimated. Interventricular septum and posterior wall thicknesses were also measured. All measured parameters were similar in both groups except posterior wall thickness. Even though an unavoidable selection bias is present in our series, we failed to identify any echocardiographic predictor of the final event in this patient group.
