1984 Volume 27 Issue 4 Pages 541-548
In order to clarify the relation between diabetes mellitus and medial arterial calcification (Mönckeberg's sclerosis), xeroradiography of the legs was carried out in 92 diabetics and 48 nondiabetics with the same sex and age distribution.The relationship between the bone mineral content in the radius measured with a bone mineral analyzer and the occurrence of Mönckeberg's sclerosis was also studied.
The Following results were obtained.
(1) Mönckeberg's sclerosis was much more common in the diabetic patients, occurring in 22.8%, compared with 2.1% of the non-diabetic subjects (p<0.01).However, no difkrence was found in the frequencies of patchy calcification (intimal calcification) between the diabetics and non-diabetics.
(2) In the diabeic group, there was a tendency for the occurencc of Mönckeberg's sclerosis to be correlated with the duration of diabetes mellitus but not with age, and the situation in patchy calcification was the reverse.
(3) Diabetics of markedly poor control, in whom the mean value of fasting plasma glucose within a year before xeroradiographic examination exceeded 250mg/dl, were found to be much more common in patients with Mönckeberg's sclerosis than in those with patchy calcification, occurring at 23.8% and 0 %, respectively (p<0.05).
(4) The occurrence of Mönckeberg's sclerosis correlated with retinopathy, especially the proliferative type (p<0.01), but not with peripheral neuropathy and proteinuria.
(5) Significantly higher incidences of gangrene and/or intermittent claudication were found in diabetics with Mönckeberg's sclerosis and patchy calcification compared with diabetics without arterial calcification of the legs (p<0.01).
(6) In IDDM, the mean value of the radial mineral content was significantly lower in patients with Mönckeberg's sclerosis than in patients without arterial calcification (p<0.05).In NIDDM, no difference was found in radial mineral content between the patients with Mönckeberg's sclerosis and those without arterial calcification.
(7) No differences were found in serum Ca, P and PTH levels between the patients with MOnckeberg's sclerosis and those without arterial calcification.
These findings suggest that diabetes mellitus, especially that of poor metabolic control, microangiopathy and decreased bone mass may have some relationship to the onset and/or development of Mönckeberg's sclerosis.
