Relationship Between Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy and Atherosclerosis in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in diabetic patients. Diabetes mellitus patients have a 4-fold-higher risk of having a cardiovascular event than people without diabetes.
Cardiac autonomic neuropathy is a frequent and severe complication of diabetes mellitus. Definite cardiac autonomic neuropathy is present in one fifth of diabetic patients.
Cardiac autonomic neuropathy diagnosis is associated with a 5-fold increase in mortality, higher prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia as well as systolic and diastolic left ventricular dysfunction. In the last several years many works described a significant relationship between cardiac autonomic neuropathy and atherosclerotic vascular disease in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus population.
Our review focuses on possible pathophysiological pathways binding these two important diabetic complications.