Early aggressive macrovascular disease and type 1 diabetes mellitus without chronic complications: A case report

Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is considered to be one of the most significant risk factors for the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the specific risk predictor models for T1DM are subject to many limitations. Case presentation. We report the case of a 42-year-old Caucasian woman presenting with T1DM for 26 years. During her chronic hyperglycemic evolution (mean of HbA1c > 3 percentage points above the superior limit) without microvascular complications, this patient presented with early and aggressive coronary artery disease, despite the lack of classical risk factors for CAD. Conclusions: The rapidly progressive macrovascular disease observed in this case demonstrates the different degrees of aggressiveness and unpredictable clinical evolution observed in some cases. It also confirms the need for a multi-factorial, early and optimized clinical management regime. © 2013 Saldanha de Mattos Matheus and Brito Gomes; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.