No evidence for systolic or diastolic left ventricular dysfunction at rest in selected patients with long‐term Type I diabetes mellitus

We assessed left ventricular systolic and diastolic function using pulsed‐waved Doppler echocardiography in a selected group of 20 patients with insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) (mean age, 35±8 years; mean diabetes duration, 17±7 years). Our patients were free of autonomic neuropathy and major micro‐ or macrovascular complications and had no evidence of ischemic heart disease or hypertension. The results were compared with those of 20 age‐ and sex‐matched control subjects. We found that left ventricular geometry and mass, systolic function by M‐mode and 2D‐echocardiography, isovolumetric relaxation time, deceleration time and the PEP/LVET ratio were not significantly different between patients and control subjects. Hemodynamic parameters were also not significantly different except for a slightly higher heart rate in the patient group (75±11 vs. 68±6 bpm, P =0.019). After correction of A‐peak velocities for differences in heart rate, there was no significant difference of Doppler indices of diastolic left ventricular function between patients and control subjects. The absence of significant left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction by Doppler echocardiography in our study patients may be explained by our patient selection. Left ventricular dysfunction in diabetic patients without concomitant hypertensive or ischemic heart disease may only occur in conjunction with microvascular disease in other organ systems, with autonomic neuropathy or with poor metabolic control.