Original Research

Aortic Elastic Properties Are Related to Left Ventricular Diastolic Function in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
Theodoros D. Karamitsos^{a, d}, Haralambos I. Karvounis^a, Triantafyllos P. Didangelos^b, Christodoulos E. Papadopoulos^a, Melania K. Kachrimanidou^c, Joseph B. Selvanayagam^d, Georgios E. Parharidis<sup>a

a</sup>First Cardiology Department, AHEPA University Hospital,
^bDiabetes Centre, Second Propedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Hippocration University Hospital, and
^cFirst Laboratory of Microbiology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece;
^dDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK

Address of Corresponding Author

Cardiology 2008;109:99-104 (DOI: 10.1159/000105549)

  Key Words

• Diabetes mellitus, type 1
• Diastolic dysfunction
• Aortic stiffness
• Doppler echocardiography

  Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate left ventricular diastolic function and its relation to aortic wall stiffness in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus without coronary artery disease or hypertension. Patients: Sixty-six patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus were examined by echocardiography and divided into two groups according to the diastolic filling pattern determined by mitral annulus tissue Doppler velocities. Group A patients (n = 21) presented diastolic dysfunction with a peak early diastolic mitral annular velocity (Em)/peak late diastolic mitral annular velocity (Am) ratio <1 whereas in group B patients (n = 45) the Em/Am ratio was >1. Coronary artery disease was excluded based on normal thallium scintigraphy. Aortic stiffness index was calculated from aortic diameters measured by echocardiography, using accepted criteria. Results: Aortic stiffness index differed significantly among the two groups. Significant correlations were found between parameters of left ventricular diastolic function (Em/Am, isovolumic relaxation time, deceleration time) and aortic stiffness index. Multiple stepwise linear regression analysis revealed aortic stiffness index ( = -0.39, p = 0.001) and isovolumic relaxation time ( = -0.46, p < 0.001) as the main predictors of Em/Am ratio. Conclusions: Aortic stiffness is increased in type 1 diabetic patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. This impairment in aortic elastic properties seems to be related to parameters of diastolic function.

Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Theodoros D. Karamitsos, MD
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford
L5, John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DU Oxford (UK)
Tel. +44 1865 221 875, Fax +44 1865 221 111
E-Mail theo.karamitsos@cardiov.ox.ac.uk

  Article Information

Received: October 20, 2006
Accepted after revision: December 8, 2006
Published online: August 14, 2007
Number of Print Pages : 6
Number of Figures : 2, Number of Tables : 2, Number of References : 18