Diabetic Foot Ulcers Linked to Premature Death

Individuals with diabetic foot ulcers were shown to be at greater risk of premature death from vascular and nonvascular causes than those without ulcers, in a recent study. Researchers obtained data for patients who attended a secondary care diabetic foot clinic or a general diabetes clinic between 2009 and 2010. The control group consisted of a clinic cohort of patients with diabetes and no history of diabetic foot ulceration (DFU). Overall, researchers recorded 145 events of all-cause mortality and 27 events of cardiovascular mortality among 869 patients with diabetes during a median follow-up of 3.6 years. After adjustment for potential confounders, DFU was associated with both cardiovascular disease (hazard ratio, 2.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.98-6.49; P = .05) and all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 3.98; 95% confidence interval, 2.55-6.21; P < .001). -- Brownrigg JRW. J Vasc Surg. 2014;doi:10.1016/j.jvs.2014.04.052.