Objective To study the relationship between the diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN) and the cerebrovascular disease. Methods The heart rate variability (HRV) was measured in 77cases of type 2 diabetes 〔49 men, 28 women, age (63.1?11.4)years〕. Forty-one cases suffered from DAN (group A), 36 cases without DAN (group B) according to the results of HRV. All the cases received the examination with transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD). Results Compared with group B, the abnormality detected with TCD was higher in group A, cerebrovascular compliance was commonly decreased and cerebrovascular stenosis was also extensively observed. Conclusion DAN seems to be one of the risk fcators in inducing cerebrovascular disease.