The second and third most common causes of death in young Danish diabetic patients were pulmonary and endocrine diseases, which occurred at rates 7.2- and 79.2-fold greater in these patients, respectively, than in controls.
All-cause mortality occurred at a rate of 234.9 deaths/100,000 person-years in young patients with diabetes versus 50.9 deaths/100,000 person-years in matched controls, for a 4.6-fold increased risk.
Autopsies showed that the most common cause of death in diabetic persons aged 36-49 years was coronary artery disease, while in those up to age 35, it was sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, a label bestowed when a medical examiner can’t find an apparent cause of death.
Session moderator Robert H. Eckle, MD, a past AHA president, cautioned against routinely attributing the deaths without apparent cause at autopsy in young people with diabetes to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome. Given that the Danish registry data don’t include data on diabetic patients’ degree of metabolic control, it seems likely that an uncertain number of those deaths were really caused by hypoglycemia, observed Dr. Eckle, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora.
Mr. Svane reported having no financial conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: Svane J. 2017 AHA Sessions.