Patients with diabetic foot ulcers have a high incidence of associated chronic vascular disease, including kidney disease, retinopathy, and peripheral artery disease (PAD). In addition, according to a study reported by Magdy H. Megallaa, MD, and colleagues at Alexandria (Egypt) University.
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Their cross-sectional study, published in Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews, comprised 180 type 2 diabetic patients (aged 30-70 years) with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) who attended an outpatient clinic between July and December 2017.
The prevalence of diabetic kidney disease and diabetic retinopathy was 86.1% and 90.0%, respectively, with 86.7% of patients having neuropathic DFUs, 11.1% having ischemic DFUs, and 2.2% having neuroischemic DFUs. The prevalence of peripheral neuropathy and PAD was 82% and 20%, respectively.
Using albuminuria as a measure of diabetic kidney disease, the researchers found that 86.1% of the patients had albuminuria and that there was a statistically significant association between albuminuria and the patient’s vibration reception threshold (VPT), a measure of diabetic neuropathy (P less than .001), and the ankle brachial index (ABI), a measure of PAD (P less than .031).
In addition, there was a statistically significant association between diabetic retinopathy and VPT (P less than .008) and between diabetic retinopathy and ABI (P less than .001).
“Albuminuria, diabetic retinopathy and peripheral neuropathy are very common among those patients and strongly associated with risk factors of diabetic foot ulceration,” the researchers concluded.
They reported that they had no conflicts.
SOURCE: Megallaa MH et al. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2019 Mar-Apr;13(2):1287-92.