Internal Diameter of the Common Femoral Artery in Patients with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

By means of an ultrasonographic technique the systolic and diastolic diameters of the common femoral artery were investigated in a group of 50 young insulin-dependent diabetics selected as being free from late diabetic complications and atherosclerotic involvement. After correction for normal physiologic variations there was no correlation of arterial diameters to duration of diabetes and no statistical difference in relation to a control group. It is known that there is a progressive increase of the arterial wall thickness in medium-sized arteries in diabetes. Therefore, it is concluded that there is a corresponding dilatation of the arteries. The reasons for this dilatation are discussed from a biophysical point of view. Furthermore, it is concluded that the increased arterial wall stiffness caused by an increasing elastic modulus and thickness reflects the earliest changes in the diabetic macroangiopathy. Occlusions and narrowing seem only to exist in patients with severe late diabetic complications.