Background: Asymtomatic santral nervous system disorder is frequently found in patients with diabetes. Neurophysiological tests were found to be objective and sensitive tool for detecting subclinical optic nerve and CNS disorders. Objectives: Our aim is to evaluate of the central nerve conduction changes using visual evoked potentials (VEP) and to demonstrate the effects of various risk factors on VEP parameters in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Methods: Sixty children aged between 6 and 18 years and followed-up with a diagnosis of T1DM were enrolled in the study. Thirty healthy, age-matched children were enrolled as the control group. All patients and controls underwent the pattern reversal visual evoked potentials (PRVEP) test. Patients' HbA1c values, age, sex and duration of disease were evaluated from their hospital files. Results: Both right and left VEP latencies were significantly longer in the diabetic group than in the control group (P = 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively). The mean duration of T1DM in the patient group was 5.5 years (min: 1 -max: 15). There was a positive correlation between longer VEP latency values and duration of DM, with coefficients of 0.49 for the right eye and 0.513 for the left eye (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively).
Conclusions:We found that optic nerve conduction diminished significantly in children with T1DM. Visual evoked potential datas showed a significant prolongation of the latency of P-100. We recommend that all diabetic children be scanned with neurophysiological tests such as PRVEP for optic neuropathy.