STUDY OF CORRELATION OF PULSE PRESSURE WITH FRS IN TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS AT A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE IN BANGALORE.

Corresponding Author:
Arun Sangappa Patted,
Senior Resident,
Department of General Medicine,
M S Ramaiah Medical College,
Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
E-mail: arun.medico135@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Pulse pressure (PP) is the difference between systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. It is easy to measure and has been established as a surrogate marker of arterial stiffness. Studies have been done to determine its significance as a better predictor of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk than systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in patients over 50 years of age. Our goal was to study its significance in diabetic patients as a single parameter as surrogate marker to correlate cardiovascular risk in 10 years obtained with the help of multiparametric Framingham risk score calculation.

METHODS

This is a cross sectional study conducted in the outpatient department of a tertiary care center. Patients were distributed into three groups based on blood sugar control. Group 1 (control group), Group 2 (moderately controlled blood sugar), and group 3 (uncontrolled blood sugar). Age and sex were appropriately matched with the controls. Pulse pressure and Framingham risk score were calculated and correlated for each group.

RESULTS

Pulse pressure showed good correlation with systolic blood pressure and Framingham risk score in patients with poorly controlled diabetes. (r =0.862, p <0.001) and (r =0.537, p =< 0.001). Statistically significant differences in mean value were found amongst 3 groups of patients for FBS, PP, TG, RS. ‘F’ ranged from 144-8.49, p= 0.001 for all groups. The other two parameters namely diastolic blood pressure and fasting blood sugar did not reveal statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS

Pulse pressure can be used as a surrogate marker to predict risk for coronary artery disease in diabetics with uncontrolled sugar levels. We hence intend to remind our fellow physicians of the importance of pulse pressure measurement in daily practice.