[Clinical and epidemiological study of a group of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus lost to longitudinal follow-up].

The Authors report the results of a retrospective study aimed to assess the clinical and biochemical parameters of a series of patients suffering from insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) who came out their regular follow up. 90 patients (44 males, 46 females; IDDM mean duration 10.51 yrs) who came out follow-up between 1978-1988, were evaluated by a multiple choice questionnaire. The prevalence of the degenerative complications were particularly focused. An increased prevalence of ocular (21%) and renal (12%) damage was found. Moreover this population showed a higher prevalence of degenerative complications in front of another IDDM series in regular follow up with the same mean age of disease (35.8% vs 6.4%). This data underline the role of clinical management of IDDM to prevent its degenerative complications.