Characteristics of people with high visit-to-visit glycaemic variability in Type 2 diabetes.

AIMS: Increased visit-to-visit glycaemic variability is independently associated with adverse outcomes in Type 2 diabetes. Our aim was to identify the patient characteristics associated with raised visit-to-visit glycaemic variability in people with Type 2 diabetes. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted to establish associations between HbA1c variability and clinical covariates in 10 130 people with Type 2 diabetes. Variability was calculated by two metrics [sd and coefficient of variation (CV)] from a minimum of four HbA1c readings obtained over a 4-year period. High and low variability groups were defined as the top and bottom tertile of the sd or CV, and used in logistic regression analyses including a number of clinical and biochemical covariates. The analyses were stratified into low mean (< 53 mmol/mol; 7%) and high mean (≥ 53 mmol/mol; 7%) HbA1c groups. RESULTS: Findings were consistent across both HbA1c groups and variability metrics. Treatment, independent of other factors, was the most strongly associated covariate for the risk of high HbA1c variability. A six-fold increased risk was observed in the low HbA1c group, between the most and least intense treatment regimens (P < 0.001). Similar findings were present in the high HbA1c group with a three-fold increase in risk (P < 0.001). In addition, male gender, younger age, reduced HDL-cholesterol and increased BMI were all found to be independently associated with raised visit-to-visit glycaemic variability. CONCLUSIONS: Intensive treatment resulting in low mean HbA1c was associated with marked increase in HbA1c variability. Irrespective of diabetes control, the greatest visit-to-visit variability was observed in young, insulin resistant men.

Determination of the Catterall classification in Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease.

Fifty hips in forty-four children with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, treated at the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, San Francisco, were evaluated with a simplified method of Catterall's classification. Our data indicate that the Catterall rating changed in 40 per cent of the hips when they were classified before they had reached the fragmentation stage of Waldenström compared with only 6 per cent when they were classified after fragmentation had occurred.