Early reduction of vascular reactivity in diabetic children detected by transcutaneous oxygen electrode.

Reactive hyperaemia in the skin was monitored by transcutaneous measurement of PO2 (tcPO2) (using electrode temperatures of 35 and 37 degrees C) in 13 well controlled diabetic children without clinical signs of vascular disease, and in healthy peers matched for age and sex. The tcPO2 increase was smaller in 12 of the 13 diabetic children than in individual controls. Taking the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval of the increases for the healthy children as a cut-off point, only 4 of the 13 diabetic children had values overlapping into the range of non-diabetics at 37 degrees C. This non-invasive technique, demonstrating a reduced postischaemic response in a group of well controlled diabetic children, may become a useful method for the early detection of diabetic microvascular disorders.