Clinical and pathological analysis of renal damage in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

The aim of this study was to investigate the causes and influential factors of renal damage in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Clinical data and pathological findings at autopsy of 161 elderly T2DM patients died between October 1994 and August 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age of these patients was 80.8 ± 8.3 years (range 60–105 years). The incidences of diabetic nephropathy (DN), non-diabetic renal diseases (NDRD), and DN complicated with NDRD were 31.1, 62.7, and 16.2 %, respectively. In patients with NDRD, the incidence of hypertensive renal damage (HRD) was 54.7 %. In the factors causing renal damage, DN and NDRD accounted for 1/3 and 2/3, respectively. HRD accounted for the largest proportion of NDRD. Blood pressure control may provide additional benefits for elderly T2DM patients by preventing and delaying the occurrence and development of renal disease.