Carotid artery intima-media thickness in pediatric type 1 diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the carotid artery intima-media thickness in pediatric type 1 diabetic patients with that in healthy control subjects matched for age, sex, height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference.

METHODS

Fifty diabetic patients and forty-five control subjects were enrolled into this observational, cross-sectional, controlled study. Carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT), flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and carotid stiffness index were measured by using a carotid Doppler and real-time ultrasound. Student's t, chi-square and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used for the statistical analysis.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in the groups for age, sex, height, weight, BMI and waist circumference (mean age 12.10 ± 2.02 vs. 11.49 ± 1.90 years, weight 41.14 ± 11.28 vs. 40.88 ± 11.68 kg, height 149.78 ± 20.3 vs. 145.62 ± 20.14 cm, BMI 18.49 ± 2.64 vs. 18.26 ± 2.59 kg/m2, waist circumference 69.72 ± 8.6 vs. 66.05 ± 7.47 cm, respectively). A significantly higher cIMT was found in the patients with type 1 diabetes (0.49 ± 0.05 vs. 0.44 ± 0.03 mm; p<0.001). A higher carotid stiffness index was found in the diabetic group when compared with control group (3.11 ± 0.46 vs. 2.6 ± 0.29 mm; p<0.001). Carotid IMT was not affected by mean HbA1c level and median HbA1c level (r=0.112, p=0.437 and r=0.249, p=0.082).

CONCLUSION

Type 1 diabetes is associated with higher cIMT and carotid stiffness index in a pediatric population.