ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus has been shown to be a major risk factor for development of early adult onset cardiovascular disease (CVD). Therefore, early detection and management of CVD became a major concern for health care providers. Epicardial fat thickness (EFT) is considered a new marker of visceral adiposity. The increased epicardial adiposity does not only increase the cardiovascular risk but also is considered an established risk factor for appearance of insulin resistance.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the correlation between epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and glycemic control, duration of diabetes in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus attending Diabetology clinic of Alexandria University Children's Hospital.

Methods: Forty children with T1DM, divided into 2 groups according to the duration of diabetes with 20 patients in each (group 1 with duration of diabetes less than 5 years and group 2 with more than 5 years duration), and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy children (group 3) were included in the study. Demographical characteristics of all patients were examined. In addition to conventional echocardiographic measurements, end-systolic EFT was measured from right ventricular free wall. Furthermore, HbA1c was assessed in all diabetic patients. Besides, Lipids profile was assessed in all groups.

Results: Mean age of the patient groups was determined to be 9.77 ± 3.33, 12.20 ± 2.22 and 9.39 ± 2.90 years in the three groups respectively. There was no significant difference between the groups in regard to body weight, height, body mass index and blood pressure. In the patient groups; EFT was determined to be significantly higher compared to the control group. There was statistically significant correlation between the EFT and the duration of diabetes. Although, there was no significant correlation between EFT and glycemic control.

Conclusion: There is an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in the patients with type 1 diabetes starting early during the childhood which makes a concern about its impact on this cohort of patients.