Frequency and Risk Factors of Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Tripoli- Libya (2018)

Abstract

Cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is a frequent chronic complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) with potentially
life-threatening outcomes, although there are available simple bedside tests for diagnosis, it is often overlooked.
The study aimed to determine frequency and risk factors of CAN in patients with DM attended diabetes out-patients
clinic at Tripoli diabetic hospital.
A descriptive prospective study include one hundred diabetic patients attended diabetes out-patients clinic from October
2017 till April 2018, were assessed by the autonomic function tests. CAN was assessed by analyzing heart rate (HR)
variations during resting and deep breathing. Sympathetic functions were assessed by checking orthostatic hypotension.
ECG (in deep breathing) was done. Trans-thoracic echocardiography, stressing on left ventricular hyper trophy (LVH),
and systolic functions were carried out. Data analysis was done by SPSS program version 16.
A total of 100 patients included in the study, female were 53%, mean age was 51.96±1.46, CAN was detected in 63%
of studied cases, diabetics with CAN were significantly associated with longer duration of DM (P-value = 0.016), uncontrolled hypertension (P- value =0.004) , high fasting lipid profile (P -value =0.005), and presence of other diabetes
microangiopathy (P-value =0.003).
CAN was more common with prolonged duration of DM, uncontrolled hypertension, dyslipidemia and presence of
other micro-vascular complication of DM
Identification of CAN is crucial because it can lead to severe morbidity and mortality and increase risk of sudden
cardiac death