[Correlation of autonomic neuropathy and retinal microangiopathy in diabetic children]

The authors investigated the preclinical signs of autonomic neuropathy (resting heart rate, hyperventilatory arrhythmia, heart rate on standing/lying, orthostatic blood-pressure decrease) in 15 type I diabetic children with negative FLAG as well as a control group of 10 healthy children. In the diabetic group with negative FLAG as compared to control children the mean resting heart rate was significantly higher, the mean values of cardiovascular reflexes did not show significant differences, however in a third of these patients the narrowing of hyperventilatory arrhythmia was demonstrable. The differences of mean values of all the four investigated parameters in the group with positive FLAG comparing with the control group proved to be significant. According to their results the initial disturbances of the autonomic nervous system in childhood diabetes may appear relatively early--before the preclinical stage of retinal microangiopathy--showing the untimely dysfunction of the parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand the signs relating to disturbance of the sympathetic nervous system (heart rate ratio on standing/lying, orthostatic blood-pressure decrease) become only in preclinical retinopathic children positive.