The new study shows that diabetic patients with subtle brain damage detected on MRI scans are more likely to develop serious kidney disease, independent of microalbuminuria. "Evaluating both SCI and microalbuminuria may be useful for determining the risk of progression of kidney disease in diabetic patients," says Uzu.

The study had some risk of bias related to patient selection. Also, although most of the patients with SCI had multiple small areas of brain damage, the study did not exclude patients with relatively large areas of brain damage. "Therefore, not only small vessel disease but also relatively large vessel disease might have affected the progression of kidney disease in our patients," adds Uzu.

The article, entitled "Cerebral Microvascular Disease Predicts Renal Failure in Type 2 Diabetes," will appear online at jasn.asnjournals/ on January 28, 2010, doi 10.1681/ASN.2009050558.

SOURCE American Society of Nephrology (ASN)