Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Clinical assessment of atherosclerotic complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) was diverted to the detection of subclinical form of atherosclerosis using the non-invasive diagnostic methods. Surrogate markers of subclinical atherosclerosis are carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and albuminuria. The aim of this study was to analyze a relationship between the presence of albuminuria and carotid IMT in patients with type 2 DM and silent ischemia.

Methods: Our study included 62 patients, aged 40–70, with type 2 diabetes, without previous history of cardiovascular disease. The patients performed exercise stress test and based on the results, were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of 25 patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD), whereas the second group consisted of 37 patients without IHD. In all patients, we measured IMT with ultrasound and albumin in 24-hour urine. The obtained values were compared between the groups.

Results: Patients with IHD were older, with a longer duration of diabetes, dyslipidemia and higher level of HbA1c compared to the control group without IHD (P < 0.05). There was a statistically significant higher value of carotid IMT in the group of patients with IHD (1.08 ± 0.17 mm) compared to those without IHD (0.78 ± 0.17 mm) (P < 0.001). The presence of albuminuria was significantly higher in the study group with IHD (22 patients) compared to the control group (9 patients), which has a statistical significance (P < 0.001). In patients with IHD albuminuria was present in 22 and in patients without IHD in 9 patients, which was statistically significantly higher in the group of patients with IHD compared to the control group (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Patients with increased carotid intima-media thickness and albuminuria have a greater risk of IHD.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, intima-media thickness, albuminuria.