Central Corneal Thickness can be Related to Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy in Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Diabetic eye disease with its various manifestations as well as diabetic neuropathy may occur in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) after several years of diabetes duration. Pachymetry is a promising method evaluating central corneal thickness (CCT) in diabetic patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the CCT values in children with T1D and its relationship to neurophysiological markers of diabetic neuropathy.

The study groups included 119 T1D children with average 5.3 years of diabetes duration and 38 age-matched controls. CCT index was measured with pachymeter in all subjects and in 19/119 of T1D patients the CCT values were referred to the ENG-EMG-SSR study results.

In T1D patients the higher CCT values were observed as compared to healthy controls (p=0.037). Correlations between CCT values and both distal latency of the motor fibers of the median nerve (R=0.51; p=0.044) and conduction velocity of this nerve (R=-0.55; p=0.027) were noted. A conduction velocity of the sensory fibers of sural nerve correlated negatively with CCT index (R=-0.50; p=0.045) in the T1D patients.

CCT measurement may be helpful in the referral of the asymptomatic pediatric T1D patients to assess an early stage of diabetic neuropathy.