The prevalence of peripheral vascular disease in sulfonylurea treated diabetic patients with proteinuria.

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and the possible risk-factors for the development of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in sulfonylurea-treated diabetic patients with proteinuria. Fifty non-insulin-dependent diabetics (NIDDs) with proteinuria (greater than 500 mg/24 h), with age less than or equal to 75 years and duration of diabetes greater than or equal to 5 years, and forty-eight NIDDs without proteinuria, matched for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), duration of diabetes and glycaemic control, were studied using Doppler ultrasound. Risk factors analysed included smoking, hypertension and metabolic indices (cholesterol, HDL-C, triglycerides). The prevalence of PVD was 44% in the proteinuric disease group compared to 14.6% in those without proteinuria (p less than 0.01). Among the risk factors analysed, hypertension and triglyceride concentration were significantly higher in the proteinuric diabetics (p less than 0.01), while HDL-C levels were found to be significantly lower in this group (p less than 0.05). We conclude that the prevalence of PVD was significantly higher in NIDDs with proteinuria. Furthermore, proteinuric patients had higher blood pressure and low HDL-C.