Assessment of Metabolic Syndrome and Clinical Significance of Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Background and Aims: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a constellation of various CVD risk factors comprised of abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinemia, hypertension and dyslipidemia. The present study was aimed to assess the prevalence of MS in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients, and to evaluate the clinical significance of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in these patients. Methods: The sample comprised of 251 T2DM patients. MS was evaluated in all the studied subjects according to NCEP-ATP III, IDF and JIS criteria. The subjects were screened for demographic as well as clinical characteristics. Results: Prevalence of MS was estimated to be 65%, 69% and 75% according NCEP-ATP-III, IDF and JIS criteria respectively. JIS criteria was only preceded for further analysis as it explained the highest prevalence and also showed the better level of agreement (0.862) with IDF criteria. Abdominal obesity was the most frequent component of MS in the studied subjects. Moreover, 20.21% of MS subjects were found to have very high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) / future mortality according to different combinations of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and ankle brachial index (ABI). Conclusions: The study revealed an increased prevalence of MS in the studied subjects. Risk of CVD may be better explained when these subjects were segregated according to different combinations of baPWV and ABI.