Autonomic nervous system function assessed by conventional and spectral analysis might be useful in terms of predicting retinal deterioration in persons with type 1 diabetes mellitus

AIMS: To determine whether cardiac autonomic dysfunction represents a risk factor for diabetic retinopathy (DR) development and progression in persons with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). ----- METHODS: The study comprised 154 normoalbuminuric persons with T1DM divided into two groups according to the DR presence: with and without DR. Cardiovascular autonomic functioning was measured at baseline using conventional and spectral analysis. Participants were re-examined for the DR presence 18months after. ----- RESULTS: The group with DR had longer disease duration compared to the group without DR (20 vrs 11.5years, p