Title: Correlation between Visual Evoked Potentials and Vitamin B12 Levels in Patients with Controlled Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Vivek Kumar Verma, Dheeraj Kela, Premshanker Singh, Durga Prasad Singh, Geeta Singh, Ganga Prasad Vaishya, Jay Prakash Pal
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i4.108
Abstract
Background: Diabetes is the epidemic of the modern era. In this disease, the morbidity is more than mortality and results from various micro- and macro-vascular complications. The goal of therapy in diabetes is to maintain the blood glucose levels within the normal range to prevent complications. The nervous system frequently gets involved with the complications of diabetes mellitus as the duration of disease increases. So far most of the studies on diabetic neuropathy have been concerned with peripheral and autonomic nerve but recently with refinement of evoked potential technique, detailed exploration of sensory pathway in central nervous system has been possible.
Aim: To study the correlation between visual evoked potentials and vitamin B12 levels in patients with controlled diabetes mellitus.
Methods: This was a cross sectional study. Total 60 cases of diabetes mellitus were examined and investigated. Simple random sampling was done among controlled diabetes mellitus patients. VEP of all diabetic patients was done and two groups were created. Group 1 comprises diabetic patients with abnormal VEP. Group 2 comprises diabetic patients with normal VEP. Serum vitamin B12 levels of patients of both groups was estimated. All patients selected in the study had clinical symptoms and signs of peripheral neuropathy but only those patients who had normal fundus examination were included in the study. Statistical analysis of data was done by using chi-square tests for desired parameters. Data compared to obtain ‘p’ value for knowing the significance and correlation between the different variables of the study.
Results: Deficiency of vitamin B12 was found in 48.33% total cases in this study. VEP latency was prolonged in 65% cases and low VEP amplitude found in 56.67% cases. There was significant correlation between duration of diabetes and VEP abnormalities in this study. VEP abnormalities are more frequent in controlled diabetes mellitus patients having vitamin B12 deficiency and infrequent in controlled diabetes patients having normal serum vitamin B12 levels.
Conclusion: Visual evoked potentials latencies are more common in diabetic patients having vitamin B12 deficiency.
Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Visual evoked potentials, Vitamin B12
