Evaluation of early change of left ventricular twist and short-axis strain by ultrasound speckle tracking imaging in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Objective To assess the early change of left ventricular (LV)twist and short-axis strain in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus by ultrasound speckle tracking imaging (STI).Methods STI was performed in 103 subjects with normal ejection fraction: 41 with diabetes mellitus only (DM group), 25 with both diabetes and left ventricular hypertrophy (DH group), and 37 normal controls. Two-dimensional strain images were acquired from LV short-axis views at the levels of mitral annulus, papillary muscle and apex. Peak systolic radial strain and circumferential strain of above levels, peak systolic rotation at the levels of mitral annulus and apex and peak systolic global twist were calculated. Results Peak systolic radial strain and average peak strainwere not significant difference among three groups (P＞0.05).Otherwise, peak systolic circumferential strain of part segments and average peak strain in all patients were significantly reduced than those in controls (P＜0.05), especially in DH patients. LV rotation and twist were significantly higher in DM group and DH group than those in control group (P＜0.05), and these parameters were larger in DH group than those in DM group (P＜0.05).Conclusion STI could be used to evaluate the early change of LV systolic function in diabetic patients with normal LV ejection fraction. Key words: Echocardiography; Diabetes mellitus; Ventricular function, left; Imaging techniques