ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: both, the ankle-brachial index < 0.9, and microalbuminuria are considered markers of endothelial dysfunction. Our objective was to evaluate if there is a correlation between the ankle-brachial index (ABI) and the degree of albuminuria in diabetic normotensive patients. METHODS: we included 32 diabetic normotensive patients and measured their ABI, and their 24-h urinary albumin excretion by nephelometry; the ABI and albuminuria were correlated with the Spearman correlation coefficient. RESULTS: we did not find overall correlation between the ABI and albuminuria (r = 0.21, 95 % CI = -0.14-0.52, p = 0.12); However, when we measured the correlation of an ABI < 0.9 with any degree of albuminuria, we found a significant correlation (r = -0.32 ± 0.11, 95 % CI = 0.027 to -0.6, p = 0.03); and when the correlation of ABI with albuminuria > 300 mg, we also found a significant correlation (r = -0.45 ± 0.11, 95 % CI = -0.015 to -0.76, p = 0.3). CONCLUSIONS: our results suggest that ABI < 0.9 is a useful marker to estimate microalbuminuria in diabetic normotensive patients.
