Diabetic glomerulosclerosis and chronic renal failure with absent-to-minimal microalbuminuria.
We report the case of an elderly black woman with a 20-year history of insulin-independent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), chronic renal failure, hypertension, proliferative retinopathy, and classical histologic features of diabetic glomerulosclerosis on renal biopsy. Repeat determinations of urinary albumin excretion rates failed to disclose significant microalbuminuria. This presentation should remind the clinician that a small minority of patients with IDDM of long duration may have severe diabetic glomerulosclerosis and renal insufficiency without detectable microalbuminuria.