Vivian Ellinger

Diabetes mellitus e depressão: uma revisão sistemática

The presence of depression in a patient with diabetes mellitus (DM) seems to be related to changes in the clinical course of the disease. The purpose of this study is to perform a systematic review on the association of DM and depression. A bibliographic search was performed using the MEDLINE and LILACS databases to identify relevant articles, published from 1990 to 2001, which evaluate this relationship. Information concerning prevalence, impact and treatment of depression in DM were analyzed. The prevalence of depression varied from 0 to 60.5%. The presence of depressive symptoms were associated with a poor glycemic control, an increase in the number and severity of clinical complications, a worse quality of life and impairment of social, educational and economic aspects related to DM. The treatment of depression is associated with an improvement in glycemic levels, which may contribute to a better control of several aspects related to DM.

Prevalence of eating disorders and psychiatric comorbidity in a clinical sample of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

BACKGROUND A few studies have shown high rates of eating disorders and psychiatric morbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. OBJECTIVE Disturbed eating behavior and psychiatric comorbidity in a sample of T2DM patients. METHODS Seventy type 2 diabetes mellitus patients between 40 and 65 years of age (mean, 52.9 +/- 6.8) from a diabetes outpatient clinic were sequentially evaluated. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Binge Eating Scale and Beck Depression Inventory were used to assess eating disorders and other psychiatric comorbidity. In addition to the descriptive analysis of the data, we compared groups divided based on the presence of obesity (evaluated by the body mass index) or an eating disorder. RESULTS Twenty percent of the sample displayed an eating disorder. Binge eating disorder was the predominant eating disorder diagnosis (10%). Overall, the group of obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus presented rates of psychiatric comorbidity comparable to those seen in their nonobese counterparts. However, the presence of an eating disorder was associated with a significant increase in the frequency of anxiety disorders (57.1% x 28.6%; p = 0.044). CONCLUSIONS In our study sample, the occurrence of eating disorders was increased compared to rates observed in the general population, with the predominance of binge eating disorder. The presence of an eating disorder in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was associated with higher rates of anxiety disorders.

Use of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and Indirect Ophthalmoscopy in the Diagnosis of Macular Edema in Diabetic Patients

Objectives: To evaluate the use of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) in the diagnosis of macular edema (ME) in diabetic patients in comparison to indirect ophthalmoscopy (IO) and, in addition, to study the characteristics of these patients. Methods: 165 patients were randomly selected to join the study in 1998. Ophthalmological, clinical and laboratory examinations were performed for all these patients. Results: Diabetic retinopathy was identified in 143 eyes (44.7%) and ME in 58 (18.3% of the total and40.5% of the patients with retinopathy). 82.7% (48) of the eyes with ME could be diagnosed with OCT, against 62.0% (36) with IO. Haemoglobin A1c was the only variable that showed a significant association with ME, when compared to control (p < 0.05). Retinopathy was associated with the presence of nephropathy (p = 0.01) and neuropathy (p = 0.001), but ME was not (NS for both). 68% of patients without ME had a visual acuity of more than 50%. Conclusions: OCT is a new method that can help the evaluation of ME in diabetic patients. It can be used not only to diagnose the lesion, but also to follow up the patients during treatment. High levels of haemoglobin A1cmight be associated with the presence of ME. Diabetic complications (nephropathyand neuropathy) are associated with retinopathy but not with macular edema.

Relation between insulin resistance and hematological parameters in a Brazilian sample

It has already been demonstrated that insulin resistance (IR) is associated with the stimulation of erythroid progenitors and with increased levels of inflammation markers. Therefore, IR should also be associated with increased red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) count. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that IR is independently associated with altered hematological parameters in a Brazilian sample. We analyzed laboratorial exams from 925 subjects. All data on hematological parameters, insulin resistance (Homeostasis Model Assessment [HOMA]) and lipid levels were included in the analysis. Demographic information included age and gender. HOMA correlated positively with RBC (r= 0.17, p< 0.001), plasma hemoglobin concentrations (r= 0.14, p< 0.001), hematocrit value (r= 0.15, p< 0.001) and WBC (r= 0.17, p< 0.01). Subjects in the upper quartile of IR had higher levels of plasma glucose, fasting insulin, triglycerides, hematocrit, hemoglobin, RBC and WBC count than those in the lower quartile. In conclusion, IR seems to be associated with alterations in several hematological parameters. These hematological alterations may be considered an indirect feature of the IR syndrome.

Marrow hypoplasia: a rare complication of untreated Grave’s disease

Atypical presentation forms of hyperthyroidism are always a challenge to the clinician. We present a female patient with the typical symptoms of thyrotoxicosis, without any thionamides treatment before, associated with pancytopenia, which recovered after euthyroidism state was achieved. Although the major cases of pancytopenia in Graves disease are seen as a complication of antithyroid drugs (thioamides), in this case report the alteration in blood tests was associated with untreated hyperthyroidism. In the literature review, we found 19 case reports between 1981 to 2012, but it has been related to a hypercellular bone marrow with periferic destruction. Our case, however, is about a hypocellular bone marrow without fibrosis or fat tissue replacement, which proceeded with a periferic improvement following thyroid treatment. Although rare, pancytopenia, when present, may develop as an unusual and severe manifestation in untreated subjects.

Análise retrospectiva do implante de prótese peniana em diabéticos

Eleven diabetic patients from the Instituto Estadual de Diabetes e Endocrinologia Luiz Capriglione who received a penile prostheses implant for erectile dysfunction were analyzed with the purpose of evaluating pre-implant conditions and safety of the procedure. Surgical indication was based in the incomplete or negative response to erection test or unwillingness to use other methods for treatment of the dysfunction. All patients were satisfied with the results of the surgery and only one presented with post-surgery complication, resulting from mechanical failure of the prosthesis. We conclude that the penile prosthesis implant can be considered a safe method of treatment, especially in low social-economical classes of the diabetic population, because it eliminates the need for long pharmacological treatments and there are few complications in the surgical follow-up.