Revelation of subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using 2016 ASE/ EACVI guidelines

BACKGROUND: Few studies have used the 2016 American Society of Echocardiography/ European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (ASE/EACVI) guidelines to detect left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) among asymptomatic normotensive type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. METHODS: 200 asymptomatic non-hypertensive diabetic cases and 281 controls matched for age and body mass index without evidence of arrhythmias, valvular, myocardial, pericardial or coronary artery disease underwent diastology assessment using 2 dimensional and M-mode echocardiography along with tissue Doppler imaging. RESULTS: The presence of LVDD was seen to be significantly higher among the members of the diabetic group compared to the controls (35 vs. 14; P=0.001). The diabetics with LVDD had a longer duration of diabetes {8.04±7.75 vs. 5.27±5.49 years; P=0.04}, along with higher glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) {8.40±1.38 vs. 7.80±1.60% ; P=0.05}, fasting blood glucose (FBS) {211.35±78.15 vs. 187.89±107.90 mg/dL; P=0.009, 2 hour post prandial blood glucose} (PPBS) {237.89±107.9 vs. 211.35±78.15 mg/dL; P=0.04}, serum triglyceride (TG) {246.91±171.82 vs. 163.44±99.37 mg/dL; P=0.008} yet had lower serum very low density lipoprotein levels (VLDL) {19.74±15.01 vs. 27.61±17.89 mg/dL; P=0.01}. CONCLUSION: This is one of the few studies so far to have demonstrated a higher occurrence of LVDD specifically among asymptomatic normotensive T2DM patients using the 2016 ASE/EACVI guidelines.