[Clinical and laboratory chemical studies of the incidence and extent of diabetic cheiropathy in childhood and adolescence].

Diabetic cheiropathy is often not diagnosed because of a paucity of symptoms. In the present study, 100 type I diabetic patients and 20 controls were investigated. The age of patients ranged from seven to 26 years, the duration of diabetes was one to 23 years. Extension of hands by "prayer position", a hand-print and angle determinations of joints were considered for the determination of diabetic cheiropathy. The presence of cheiropathy was unrelated to the duration of diabetes. However, it was well correlated with the quality of blood sugar control and it was often associated with diabetic retinopathy: Diabetic cheiropathy was detected in 53 (53%) of the diabetic patients, and in 26 (49%) of them diabetic retinopathy was also diagnosed. Only three patients had a retinopathy without cheiropathy. On the basis of our results, diabetic cheiropathy is a surprisingly common feature in young type I-diabetics. It is not to be considered as a late complication but rather a sequel of badly controlled diabetes mellitus.