Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Asymptomatic Diabetic Patients
- Wojciech Kosmala, MD1,
- Paolo Colonna, MD2,
- Monika Przewlocka-Kosmala, MD1 and
- Walentyna Mazurek, MD, PHD1
- 1Department of Cardiology, Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
- 2Division of Cardiology, Azienda Policlinico, Bari, Italy
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Wojciech Kosmala, Klinika Kardiologii AM, Pasteura 4, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland. E-mail: kosmw{at}kard.am.wroc.pl
Diabetes is thoroughly evidenced to increase the risk of development of heart failure even in the absence of frequently coexisting comorbidities such as coronary artery disease and hypertension.
Cardiac adverse effects influenced by diabetes have been demonstrated thus far for the left ventricle, particularly systolic and diastolic dysfunction identified at rest (1–9) and/or during exercise (10–11). To date, no information is available regarding the possible involvement of the right ventricle in the pathological process evoked by diabetes. In clinical practice, right ventricular dysfunction is relevant in a variety of disease states affecting both the course and prognosis (12–16), and therefore one may assume that right ventricular performance is also an important issue in diabetic patients.
The objective of the present study was to assess right ventricular systolic and diastolic function using conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) in diabetic patients without coronary artery disease and with and without coexisting hypertension.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
The study group encompassed 27 diabetic and normotensive patients (DMN group) and 36 patients with coexisting diabetes and hypertension (DMHT group) who were prospectively enrolled between October 2002 and May 2003. The control group included 33 healthy volunteers. Coronary artery disease was excluded according to negative dobutamine stress echocardiography, treadmill exercise electrocardiographic test, the absence of myocardial ischemia in 24-h electrocardiographic Holter monitoring, and, in 27 …
