Morbidity in 565 type 2 diabetic patients according to stage of nephropathy.

Between 1988 and 1992, 565 type 2 diabetic patients were examined for nephropathy and diabetes-associated diseases during hospital treatment. Stages of nephropathy were defined as no clinical sign of nephropathy (N = 280), microalbuminuria (N = 38), overt proteinuria (N = 105), impaired renal function (N = 55), and chronic dialysis therapy (N = 87). In dialyzed patients, HbA1c averaged 6.8%, and, in the other groups, HbA1c was between 7.6% and 8.3% (normal range, 3.8%-6.1%). Cataract was not associated with the severity of nephropathy. Stroke was most common in the stage of renal insufficiency (34%). The following complications, as found in medical history or as current event, showed a significant association with the stage of nephropathy and occurred most frequently in dialysis patients (percentage is displayed for patients with nephropathy in comparison to diabetic dialysis patients): hypertension (53%-89%), left ventricular hypertrophy (39%-81%), myocardial infarction (14%-36%), peripheral vascular disease (27%-77%), foot lesions (7%-75%), minor or major amputations (3%-23%), proliferative retinopathy (6%-46%), blindness (2.9%-16.1%), and internal carotid artery stenosis (15%-36%). In this preselected cohort of diabetic patients, a high morbidity was found already without nephropathy that increased several-fold in the course of the development of nephropathy. Our data identify patients with diabetic nephropathy as a high-risk group for excess morbidity.