Left ventricular relaxation and filling pattern in diabetic heart muscle disease: An echocardiographic study

In order to study left ventricular function digitized M-mode-echocardiograms were analyzed. 34 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (mean age 37.8 years, mean diabetes history 21.5 years) were compared with 35 healthy individuals (mean age 40.9 years). Only patients with negative exercise-ECG, normal 2-D-echocardiogram and normal systemic arterial blood pressure were enclosed. In diabetics the time-constant Te of free wall endocardial retraction was significantly prolonged (76.8±21.2 ms versus 64.0±7.9 ms in normals, p<0.005), the dimension change during early diastole (dD DS-ERF) was significantly reduced (54.5±13.1% versus 69.8±9% in normals, p<0.001) and the dimension change during atrial contraction phase (dD ACP) was significantly enlarged (23.4±14.4% versus 14.3±6.4% in normals, p<0.001). These data suggest that impaired left ventricular diastolic function can be found in patients with long standing insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.