Left Ventricular Changes in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Heart failure is a common and serious co-morbidity of diabetes mellitus (DM). Data from clinical studies confirm the association of DM with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction independent of hypertension, coronary atheromatosis, or any other known heart disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of DM without HTA or CAD on LV phenotype, its systolic and diastolic function. One hundred patients with type 2 DM presenting the Endocrinology Department at Regional Hospital, Durres, Albania, from 2010 to 2013 and one hundred age and gender-matched non-diabetic controls, as evidenced by a normal oral glucose tolerance test were included in the study. . Age and gender, and smoking status were comparable in the two groups. However, several significant differences were noticed. The diabetic patients when compared with the controls had significantly higher BMI, heart rate, arterial pressure, and hyperlipidaemia. Also conventional and tissue Doppler parameters were significantly higher among diabetic patients.