The New England journal of medicine
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Plasma renin exists in an active form or as an inactive zymogen that resembles a prorenin present in homogenates of human kidneys. We examined the relation of diabetes and its microvascular complications with the level of plasma inactive renin activated by dialysis to pH 3.3. Plasma inactive renin was measured in 235 diabetic patients and 90 nondiabetic controls. ⋯ The frequency of neuropathy was also significantly higher among patients with levels above the normal range. In 37 per cent of the diabetics followed during one to three years of conventional treatment, plasma inactive renin increased significantly, but in another group of diabetics under intensive treatment, the level rose in only 7 per cent and fell in 43 per cent. We conclude that there is a close association between a high level of plasma inactive renin and the presence of microvascular complications, and that the level of inactive renin can be modified by intensive treatment of diabetes.
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Clinically apparent cerebral edema is a rare and often fatal complication of diabetic ketoacidosis. To determine whether subclinical brain swelling occurs more commonly, we obtained cranial CT scans in six children with diabetic ketoacidosis treated with fluid resuscitation and continuous low-dose insulin therapy. Control scans were obtained before hospital discharge. ⋯ In addition, a narrowing of the subarachnoid spaces was subjectively noted during a blind reading of the early scans. Although no single scan was overtly indicative of cerebral edema, the data suggest that subclinical brain swelling may be a common occurrence during treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis in children. Sequential CT scans of the brain may provide a means of evaluating modifications of standard therapy aimed at preventing cerebral edema.