Prevalence and Associated Features of Albuminuria in Koreans with NIDDM

Abstract

The prevalence of overt proteinuria in Korean NIDDM patients with a long diabetes duration was higher than that reported in Caucasians. Our data also suggest that the clinical meaning of microalbuminuria may be different based on the presence or the absence of retinopathy. Microalbuminuria in patients with retinopathy most probably would reflect diabetic nephropathy. In contrast, some recent-onset NIDDM patients with microalbuminuria in the absence of retinopathy had features of syndrome X.