Use of Doppler flow velocity waveform analysis in detection of initial diabetic microangiopathy

Doppler flow velocity waveform analysis (FVWFA), recorded from the dorsalis pedis artery (DPA) and the radial artery (RA), was performed on 36 women in attempting to detect an initial diabetic microangiopathy (DM). The study comprised two groups of women affected by non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, 6 patients (pts) of reproductive age (1), 12 pts in menopause (II), and two groups of age-matched healthy controls (C) (III and IV). Clinical signs of initial DM were present in group I. All the examined pts were nonsmokers and normotensive and without cardiopathy, signs of diabetic macroangiopathy, collagen vascular disease and/or Raynaud's phenomenon, and renal failure. Four waveform dimensions capable of separating different degrees of peripheral obstructive arteriolar disease were determined on velocity tracing and the results used in a single best discriminant equation. The resultant discriminant score (DS), derived by FVWFA on DPA, showed a highly accurate rate of separating the young pts with DM from both C and the pts in menopause without DM. Furthermore, the resultant DS was statistically not different in groups II, III, and IV. In conclusion, FVWFA on DPA, in this experience, has proved to be an accurate and sensitive method in the detection of initial DM.