The Influence of Autonomic Neuropathy on Mortality in Insulin-dependent Diabetes

Five-year survival was investigated in 506 randomly selectedpatients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus screened forautonomic neuropathy with a series of cardiac autonomic functiontests. Of the 484 diabetics traced, 44 (9 per cent) had died. The cumulative 5-year mortality rate was increased more thanfive-fold in those with autonomic neuropathy: 27 per cent vs.5 per cent in those with normal autonomic function. Discriminantanalysis of survivors and non-survivors showed that autonomicneuropathy was the most important independent predictor of death.Among those who died, autonomic neuropathy was associated withan increased frequency of retinopathy and peripheral neuropathyand a slightly lower frequency of macrovascular disease. Autonomicneuropathy was associated with an increased mortality rate fromrenal failure, but not from any other causes.