[Microalbuminuria and ultrasound characteristics of kidneys in children and adolescents with diabetes mellitus type 1].

The aim of the study was to compare ultrasound findings of kidneys in children and adolescents with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DMT1), establish the association with microalbuminuria, blood pressure values and metabolic control of the disease, and creatinine clearance. In 80 children and adolescents with DMT1, in whom illness occurred in period between 2 and 16 years of age, morphometry measurements with ultrasound were performed. Nephelometric method of three consecutive samples of urine determined microalbuminuria. In patients with microalbuminuria, creatinine clearance was also measured. Demographic data were obtained from the parents and from the patients medical records. In relation to the duration of the disease, all patients were divided into two groups: the first group of patients with illness lasting for less than 10 years, and the second were those whose illness had lasted more than 10 years. In patients with duration of DMT1 of more than 10 years, the frequency of pathological findings of the longitudinal diameter and volume of both kidneys in relation to age and anthropometric standards was statistically significantly greater. Also, the finding of microalbuminuria was more frequent. In the group of patients with DMT1 lasting for more than 10 years, the mean value of HBA1c was statistically significantly higher In patients with microalbuminuria the total mean value of creatinine clearance was within the bounds of the reference values and was statistically significantly higher in patients in whom the illness had lasted less than three years, which indicates hyperfiltration of the kidneys. Alongside microalbuminuria, monitoring of the dimension and volume of the kidneys may indicate the existence of the early phases of diabetic nephropathy and result in its prevention and prevention of illness progression.