ESPE Abstracts

Background: Diabetics have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. In young adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), cardiovascular events are more often the cause of premature death than nephropathy. In pediatric T1DM population, 35% have 2 or more cardiovascular risk factors (cvRF).

Objective and hypotheses: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of traditional cvRF in children and adolescents with T1DM, and their association with the degree of glycemic control.

Method: We performed a retrospective hospital-based analysis that included all children and adolescents with the diagnosis of T1DM, for at least one year, followed in pediatric consultation of a single secondary hospital. The cvRF assessed were BMI, blood pressure (BP), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL). IBM SPSS®21 was used for statistical analysis.

Results: A total of 59 T1DM patients were included in this study, with a predominance of male gender (59%) and an average age of 13±4.2years. The mean diagnosis age was 8±3.8years, and the mean follow-up time was 5±3.3years. Actually, 10% had other autoimmune (AI) disease, and 93% are doing multiple daily insulin injection. Regarding to disease control, 25% had an HbA1c under 7.5%. Traditional cvRF were present in 47.5% of T1DM patients. Of these patients, 7% have elevated BP, 18.5% elevated TG, 52% elevated LDL, 25% decreased HDL and 52% overweight/obesity. The presence of cvRF was associated with an early age of disease diagnosis (7 vs. 10) (P<0.05), but was not associated with duration of disease. Presence of cvRF was not associated with current age, gender, glycemic control and other AI diseases.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates a high frequency of cvRF in children and adolescents with T1DM. It therefore emphasizes the importance of early and systematic screening for these risk factors. Early intervention should be considered in all patients at risk.