Representativeness of the Swiss Diabetes Registry - a single centre analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The Swiss Diabetes Registry (SwissDiab) is a multicentre, longitudinal, observational study of outpatients with diabetes receiving treatment at tertiary care centres. The aim of this study was to evaluate the representativeness of the participants at the study centre in the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Cantonal Hospital of St Gallen by comparing diabetes-related characteristics of participating and nonparticipating patients. METHODS: The study included 493 SwissDiab participants enrolled between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2016 and 640 nonparticipating patients treated at the centre during the same time period. For participants and nonparticipating patients, demographic characteristics, clinical findings, blood chemistry and medication were retrieved from the SwissDiab baseline visit and the medical record ±6 months from the first available outpatient visit to the clinic for diabetes-related care within the study period. Nonparticipating patients were further divided into three subgroups: (i) excluded from SwissDiab, or having received (ii) ≥6 months or (iii) <6 months of prior diabetes treatment at the centre. Differences in diabetes-related clinical characteristics were determined using simple bivariate (nonparametric) statistical analyses stratified by diabetes mellitus type 1 and type 2. RESULTS: Compared with nonparticipants, participants smoked less (diabetes mellitus type 1: 24% vs 45%; diabetes mellitus type 2: 21% vs 29%), had higher educational attainment (diabetes mellitus type 1: 39% vs 21%; and diabetes mellitus type 2: 25% vs 18%) and lower glycated haemoglobin levels (diabetes mellitus type 1: 7.2% vs 7.8%; diabetes mellitus type 2: 7.2% vs 8.1%). In diabetes mellitus type 2, the proportion of females (30% vs 38%) and a migration background (36% vs 49%) were lower among participants. (All p-values <0.05.) In a stratified analysis SwissDiab participants had slightly better controlled diabetes than nonparticipating patients with ≥6 months of prior treatment, whereas the diabetes of patients recently referred to the clinic (with <6 months of prior treatment) and patients excluded from participation in SwissDiab were less well controlled. CONCLUSION: The observed differences in clinical characteristics between study participants and nonparticipating patients indicate that SwissDiab is likely to overestimate the state of diabetes care and management. The results highlight the need to improve recruitment of females and patients with a migration background in diabetes mellitus type 2.

Missing the boat: fatal ending to a missed case of Charcot arthropathy.

SUMMARY: Acute Charcot neuropathic osteoarthropathy (CN) is a clinical entity which can easily go unrecognized in its acute early stages due to lack of awareness and unspecific presentation. However, missing early diagnosis can lead to severe complications. We present the case of a 72-year-old male patient who went through the natural course of the disease unnoticed before the very eyes of his physicians leading to a tragic end. We aim to raise awareness for this rare diabetic complication, emphasizing the necessity of early diagnosis and adequate, interdisciplinary treatment. LEARNING POINTS: Clinical signs and symptoms of acute Charcot neuropathic osteoarthropathy (CN). Red flags. Importance of early diagnosis and correct treatment. Diagnostic challenges of acute CN. Awareness of high morbidity and mortality.

Compliance with guidelines for disease management in diabetes: results from the SwissDiab Registry.

OBJECTIVE: Tight glycemic control and aggressive treatment of additional cardiovascular risk factors can substantially reduce risk of diabetes-related complications. In 2013, the Swiss Society of Endocrinology and Diabetology (SSED) established national criteria on good disease management in diabetes, but little is known about compliance in clinical care. Here we assessed to what extent patients from two tertiary care centers in the German-speaking part of Switzerland enrolled in the Swiss Diabetes (SwissDiab) Registry adhere to the SSED criteria. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: SwissDiab is a prospective observational cohort study of patients regularly treated at Swiss tertiary diabetes centers. Data were collected through standardized annual health examinations. Baseline participant descriptive statistics, stratified by diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2), were compared with SSED targets for glycemic control, blood pressure, blood lipids, weight maintenance, and ophthalmic examination. RESULTS: By the end of 2016, 604 participants with DM1 (40%) and DM2 (60%) had data available for analyses, 36% and 29% women, respectively. At baseline, all the SSED targets were met with two exceptions: a glycated hemoglobin A1c value <7% was measured in 32% of participants with DM1 (SSED target: ≥40%) and 47% and 56% of overweight or obese participants with DM1 and DM2, respectively, received nutritional counseling in the previous year (SSED target: ≥80%). CONCLUSIONS: The SSED targets for good disease management in diabetes were achieved in the majority of participants at the time of enrollment, but results also highlight areas where disease management can be improved, particularly the role of nutrition counseling.

[Preventive measures of diabetic foot complications]. / Prévention des complications du pied diabétique.

Diabetic foot complications are a public health challenge and preventive measures although simple are often not enforced, as evidenced by the lack of decrease in the rate of ulcers and amputation in Switzerland. This article proposes a risk score to grade individual risk of the diabetic patient and an individualized prevention measures as this risk. We discuss the importance of collaboration of various specialists. Two areas are important, first the early involvement of specialists in revascularization because the diabetic population with feet at risk of ulcération risk nowadays primarily has neuro-ichemic ulcerations and also the close collaboration with podiatrists and orthopedic shoemakers who are full partners of the multidisciplinary team.

Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin-associated gene-A antibodies do not predict complications or death in type 2 diabetes: the Fremantle Diabetes Study.

OBJECTIVES: There is cross-sectional evidence that CagA antigen produced by Helicobacter pylori is associated with coronary heart disease, stroke, atrial fibrillation (AF) and microalbuminuria, but no large-scale longitudinal studies have been conducted in diabetic patients. We aimed to determine whether cytotoxin-associated gene-A (CagA) seropositivity is independently associated with important vascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes. METHODS: We studied 1179 type 2 patients from a well characterized community-based cohort who had available sera from baseline assessment between 1993 and 1996, and follow-up for incident events to end-June 2007. H. pylori IgG and CagA antibodies at baseline were measured by validated ELISA. Multiple logistic/linear regression analysis and Cox proportional hazards modelling were used to determine independent baseline associates of prevalent and incident complications, respectively, including H. pylori/CagA serostatus. RESULTS: At baseline, 62.0% of patients were H. pylori seropositive and 37.7% were both H. pylori and CagA seropositive. CagA seropositivity was not independently associated with prevalent coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), peripheral arterial disease or AF at baseline (P > 0.41), but there was a significant inverse association with ln(urinary albumin:creatinine) (P = 0.033). There were no independent associations between CagA seropositivity and incident CHD/CVD or progression to microalbuminuria (P > 0.20). During follow-up, 480 patients (40.7%) died, 246 (50.2%) from cardiovascular causes. After adjustment for other variables,CagA seropositivity was weakly protective against cardiovascular death (P = 0.024). CONCLUSION: CagA seropositivity is not a risk factor for chronic vascular complications of type 2 diabetes. Assay of CagA antibodies does not contribute significantly to clinical management outside gastroenterological indications.

Inhaled human insulin (Exubera(®)): its pharmacologic profile, efficacy and safety in the treatment of adults with diabetes mellitus.

Exubera(®) (EXU, insulin human [rDNA origin]) is the first inhaled insulin approved for the treatment of diabetes in adults. Its pharmacokinetic properties make it suitable as therapy for postprandial glycemia. Clinical trials have demonstrated equal efficacy with short-acting subcutaneous regular and analog insulin in both Type 1 and 2 diabetes, and have also shown that it has value as adjunctive therapy in Type 2 patients inadequately controlled on maximal doses of oral hypoglycemic agents. EXU is well tolerated and associated with a high level of patient satisfaction. Hypoglycemia is the most common adverse event but its incidence does not exceed that expected for the degree of glycemic improvement. Minor reductions in some measures of pulmonary function have been observed in EXU-treated patients but safety studies of up to 2 years duration reveal that they occur early, do not progress and resolve quickly after treatment cessation. Longer-term postregistration pulmonary function studies that include assessment of insulin antibodies and the associated risk of allergic/immune disorders are in progress. EXU overcomes problems associated with the invasive nature of subcutaneous injection without loss of efficacy. Depending on cost and confirmation of safety, it could be a valuable part of future treatment strategies for both Type 1 and 2 diabetes.

Drug evaluation: rivoglitazone, a new oral therapy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Daiichi Sankyo Inc is developing rivoglitazone, an insulin sensitizer with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonistic activity, for the potential treatment of type 2 diabetes. By March 2006, phase I/III clinical trials were underway in the US and the EU.