Sympathetic skin responses in Type-1 diabetic children: relationship to urodynamic findings

Cystopathy is an important problem in diabetes mellitus (DM) when diabetes is not well-controlled. In most cases of diabetic csytopathy, autonomic involvement is responsible, which develops insidiously over a long time. We investigated the hand and genital sympathetic skin responses (SSRs) and its relation to urodynamic abnormalities in this group of patients.

We performed hand and genital SSRs in 24 children with Type-1 DM, whose hemoglobin A1C values were above normal limits. We also recruited 19 healthy children for SSRs measurements. Cystometry was performed in 24 children with Type-1 DM. Based on cystometry findings, these children were classified into two groups as normal (n:6) and abnormal (n:18). The amplitude and latency of hand and genital SSRs of 24 children with Type-1 DM and 19 healthy children were compared.

Hand and genital SSRs were obtained from all of the diabetic and healthy children. The mean genital SSRs amplitude in diabetic children was significantly lower than the controls. There was no difference in the mean values of all investigated parameters between the normal group and controls. When compared to the controls, there was prolonged latency and decreased amplitude of genital SSRs and decreased hand SSRs amplitude in abnormal group.

SSR is a non-invasive test for the evaluation of autonomic sympathetic involvement. Our study revealed differences in genital SSR before the manifestations of cystopathy. Children with abnormal urodynamic findings had changes in both hand and genital SSRs. These findings suggest that SSR tests may have a place in the evaluation of diabetic cystopathy in the early asymptomatic period.