Diabetic microangiopathy in patients with pancreatitic diabetes mellitus.

Clinically evident diabetic microangiopathy (retinopathy and nephropathy) occurred in 18% of diabetic patients with acute pancreatitis and 14% of diabetic patients with chronic pancreatitis. The presence of diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy in patients with pancreatitic diabetes without a family history of diabetes mellitus suggests that these patients have "primary" diabetes mellitus unmasked by the pancreatitis. The occurrence of diabetic microangiopathy is significantly correlated with the duration of diabetes. The frequency of these diabetic complications seems to increase when there is a family history of diabetes in patients whose pancreatitis is simultaneous with or precedes the onset of diabetes. The majority of patients with diabetic microangiopathy were on insulin therapy, but the need for insulin treatment is an indication of the severity of the diabetes, rather than the insulin being a causative factor of the microangiopathy. The degree of steatorrhea in diabetic patients with chronic pancreatitis did not protect against the development of microangiopathy.