[Screening of cardiac autonomic neuropathy in a group of adolescents and young adult Cameroonians with type 1 diabetes]

Aim: We aimed to describe cardiac autonomic neuropathy in a group of young Cameroonians type 1 diabetic patients.

Patients and methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study including consenting patients with type 1 diabetes and without any other comorbidity, who were followed-up at the type 1 diabetic children's clinic at the Yaoundé central hospital. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy was diagnosed and stage using the five functional tests described by Ewang et al., and the heart rate variability assessment.

Results: We included 60 with a mean age of 18.6±4.9 years, 38.3% of female and a mean duration of diabetes of 5.9±5.1 years. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy was present in 96.7% of participants. Early, confirmed and severe cardiac autonomic neuropathy were found respectively in 8.3%, 86.7% and 1.7% of the patients. The most frequent clinical signs were exercise intolerance, alternating constipation and diarrhea and resting tachycardia.

Conclusion: Cardiac autonomic neuropathy is common in young patients with type 1 diabetes. It is important to integrate the assessment of cardiac autonomic reflexes in type 1 diabetic patients' follow-up.