Nerve conduction velocity determinations in juvenile diabetes: continuing study of 190 patients

Few prospective studies on the concomitant finding of neuropathy in juvenile diabetics exist. An ongoing study of motor and sensory nerve conduction determinations in 190 diabetic children, with sequential studies in 108 of them over an eight-year period, is the subject of this report. The incidence of neuropathy in our sample population under five years of age is neglible. In the children over five years of age, 8% had abnormal nerve conduction velocity (NCV) of the peroneal nerve, 4.5% had abnormal median motor and sensory NCV on initial study. In the sequential studies of the children over five years of age, the percentage of abnormal NCV rose from 14% to 48% as the duration of diabetes increased from one year to more than five years. It is the older juvenile diabetics with the longest duration of diabetes who would appear to have the highest incidence of neuropathy.