BACKGROUND
Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by two-fold and ischemic cerebrovascular disease by two to four-fold compared with the risk for non-diabetic patients. In patients with NIDDM, the risk of athero- thromboembolic cerebral infarction is known to be increased. We evaluated the significance of clinical variables with respect to the risk of cerebral infarction in NIDDM patients. METHODS: We assessed clinical variables retrospectively in 170 patients (90 men, 80 women) from April 1, 1991 through March 31, 1996, divided into 3 groups;100 NIDDM patients with cerebral infarction (58 men, 42 women), 40 NIDDM patients (17 men, 23 women) and 30 non-diabetic patients with cerebral infarction(15 men, 15 women). We evaluated 130 patients with cerebral infarction employing brain CT or MRI. RESULTS: 1) The mean values of age, serum total cholesterol, LDL, TG, HbA1C, systolic and diastolic BP were significantly higher in patients with NIDDM complicated by cerebral infarction than in those without cerebral infarction. 2) There were no statistically significant differences in body mass index (BMI), duration of DM and HDL between the two groups, respectively. 3) Diabetic retinopathy (especially, proliferative retinopathy) andmacroproteinuria(550 mg/day) were found significantly higher in diabetic patients with cerebral infarction than in those without cerebral infarction. 4) Multiple lacunar infarctions were more frequently observed in patients with NIDDM than non-diabetic patients with cerebral infarction. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion: We suggest that increased age and HbAlC, hypertension, dyslipidemia, macroproteinuria and proliferative diabetic retinopathy could be associated with the risk of cerebral infarction in patients with NIDDM. The results showed that multiple lacunar infarctions were more frequent in patients with NIDDM than in non-diabetic patients. However, there were no statistical significances between the two groups.