Correlation between the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes

Objective　To investigate the relationship between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and the peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes (DPN). Methods　A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted involving 344 patients with type 2 diabetes. All patients were grouped according to the presence or absence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), and they were further divided into four groups according to baPWV quartiles. The differences and correlations of related indexes between groups were analyzed. Results　The baPWV was higher in patients with DPN than in those without DPN (P<0.01). As the baPWV increased from 1023cm/s to 3279cm/s, the proportion of patients with moderate/severe signs of neuropathy rose from 27.9% to 68.2% (P<0.05). Univariate analysis of risk factors for DPN revealed that age≥60 years, duration of diabetes ≥10years, SBP ≥140mmHg, baPWV ≥1600cm/s, hypertension, diabetic retinopathy (DR), and diabetic nephropathy (DN) were closely related to DPN (P<0.05). After adjusting the impacts of age, SBP, urine albumin-creatinine ratio on baPWV, multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that diabetic duration and DR were independent risk factors for DPN (P<0.05). Conclusion　Increased baPWV shows some correlation with DPN in patients with type 2 diabetes. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2014.11.08