Skin Perfusion in Type 1 Diabetic Patients Measured in Upper Extremities by Laser DopplerFluxmetry

Overview

Background.
Diabetic microangiopathy is a very frequent complication of both types of diabetes mellitus.Detection of early microcirculation impairment may identify patients at high risk of severe complications and mayhave a great value for prevention of these complications. The aim of the study was to evaluate the skin microcircu-lation in upper extremities in Type 1 diabetic patients and in healthy volunteers with laser Doppler technique.Parameters of microcirculation were compared between these two groups and with diabetes control expressed byglycated hemoglobin, fructosamin and fasting glycaemia. Relationship between perfusion parameters, the age ofpatients and the duration of diabetes was analysed as well.Methods and Results. Thirty-eight Type 1 diabetic patients (18 men, 20 women) and twenty-six healthy persons(16 men, 10 women) were evaluated in this study. Differences of high statistical significance in many parametersof perfusion were found between these groups. A significant negative relationship was found between the percentageperfusion increase during postocclusive hyperaemia in forearm and HbA1c and fructosamine (r=-0,52, p

Key words:
laser Doppler fluxmetry, microangiopathy, IDDM, microcirculation.