Title |
Mortality and outcome of patients with brittle diabetes and recurrent ketoacidosis
|
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Published in |
The Lancet, September 1994
|
DOI | 10.1016/s0140-6736(94)92340-x |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
La Kent, G. Williams, G.V. Gill |
Abstract |
The long-term outlook of patients with brittle insulin-dependent diabetes is uncertain. We assessed the outcome of a group of young female patients with diabetes and recurrent ketoacidosis originally investigated in 1979-85 and reassessed after a mean of 10.5 (SD 1.4) years. 7 of the 33 patients could not be traced. 5 (19%) of the remaining 26 had died. Causes of death were not certain, but were probably ketoacidosis (2), hypoglycaemia (2), and renal failure (1). Of the 21 survivors, only 2 (10%) were still considered to have brittle diabetes. Diabetic complications were common (67%), and were more frequent than in a matched control group of stable patients with diabetes (25%). Brittle diabetic patients also had lower quality-of-life scores, more frequent psychosocial disruptions, and were on higher insulin doses (77 [39] vs 47 [15] U per day, p = 0.007) than controls. Pregnancy complications had occurred in 13 of 28 (46%) pregnancies in severely unstable patients compared with 2 of 27 (7%) in stable controls. Patients with brittle diabetes have a tendency to become more stable with time, but have a higher risk of death, more microvascular and pregnancy complications, and a poorer quality of life. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
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Portugal | 1 | 3% |
Germany | 1 | 3% |
Australia | 1 | 3% |
Unknown | 33 | 89% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Researcher | 4 | 11% |
Student > Bachelor | 4 | 11% |
Other | 3 | 8% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 3 | 8% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 3 | 8% |
Other | 9 | 24% |
Unknown | 11 | 30% |
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---|---|---|
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Nursing and Health Professions | 5 | 14% |
Psychology | 2 | 5% |
Linguistics | 1 | 3% |
Engineering | 1 | 3% |
Other | 0 | 0% |
Unknown | 13 | 35% |