Association of left ventricular diastolic function abnormalities with aortic elastic properties in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A tissue doppler echocardiographic study

Summary Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the aortic elastic properties and the left ventricular diastolic function measured by tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE) in asymptomatic type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: Fifty-seven asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes (33 women, mean age: 49 ± 6 years) and 25 healthy control subjects (19 women, mean age: 46 ± 7 years) were included in the present study. Diastolic filling indices were measured by conventional (CE) and tissue Doppler echocardiography. The aortic elastic properties [Aortic stiffness index (ASI), aortic distensibility and strain] were measured as previous definition. Results: Compared with control subjects, the ratio of LV diastolic abnormalities measured by CE and TDE were found higher in patients with type 2 diabetes (36% and 73.6%, p = 0.001, respectively, and 52% and 89.4%, p