ASSESSING THE PERIPHERAL SENSITIVITY OF NEWLY DIAGNOSED TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS USING CASEIVSYSTEM AND CLASSIC METHODS

Abstract

Background and Aims: A complete evaluation of complications should be done each time a new case of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is diagnosed. A good screening of complications will be the background of an oriented treatment. Our aim was to assess the vibratory and thermal sensitivity using a Computer Aided Sensory Analyzer (CASEIVSystem) in newly diagnosed T2DM patients and to compare it with the threshold determined by classical methods. Material and Methods: We sequentially enrolled 260 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM. The threshold of peripheral vibratory and thermal sensitivity was comparatively assessed using CASEIVSystem and classic tools. Other neurological scores were obtained from patients. Results: The vibratory threshold was abnormal in 56.92% (hand) and respectively 75.00% (foot) of subjects. Altered perception for the thermal threshold was registered in 76.15% and, respectively, 76.92% of subjects for the same sites. The 10g-monofilament exam was positive for 28.46% and the 128Hz-tuning-fork exam was positive for 20.38% of the examined patients. Mean time for a complete CASEIVSystem exam was around 27.23±9.34min vs. 3.21±0.24min (p<0.05) for a classic exam. Conclusions: In our study, CASEIVSystem allowed the assessment of the vibratory and thermal thresholds. The time needed for investigation renders this tool difficult to use in a time effective manner.