Association of Cardiovascular Autonomic Dysfunction With Peripheral Arterial Stiffness in Patients With Type 1...

Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) appears to contribute to peripheral arterial stiffness (AS) in type 1 diabetes. Whether CAN in patients with AS is associated with concomitant asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease (aPAD) remains unclear.

To assess the risk of CAN in patients with type 1 diabetes and AS and its potential association with atherosclerosis.

Cross-sectional study.

Type 1 diabetes clinic in an academic hospital.

Two hundred sixty-four patients with type 1 diabetes.

AS was defined as an ankle-brachial index (ABI) >1.2, aPAD by the toe-brachial index and Doppler sonography, and CAN by blood pressure and heart rate responses to active standing and Ewing and Clarke tests.

Odds of having CAN among patients with AS. Odds for CAN were also calculated as a function of the presence of AS and concomitant aPAD.

The study population's mean age was 35 ± 11 years, with a duration of disease of 19 ± 10 years and mean hemoglobin A1c of 7.5% ± 1.3%. Seventy-three patients (28%) had peripheral AS, of whom 28 showed aPAD. The prevalence of CAN among patients with AS was 48% but it was only 23% in subjects with normal ABI (OR: 3.1 [1.7; 5.4]). Concomitant aPAD increased the OR for CAN (OR: 4.5 [2.0; 10.1]). After adjustments for aPAD and relevant cardiovascular risk factors, AS remained associated with parasympathetic dysfunction.

In type 1 diabetes, both peripheral AS and atherosclerosis were associated with CAN. A simple method, such as the ABI, may identify a subset of patients with undiagnosed dysautonomia.