Abstract
BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the most prevalent cardiac and cerebrovascular risk factors. The study aimed to find a new way to investigate left ventricle (LV) systolic dysfunction in T2DM patients using two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE). METHODS: Fifty-one untreated T2DM patients and 52 normal control subjects were enrolled for the research. Apical four-chamber view was acquired by two-dimensional echocardiography. Segmental and global peak systolic longitudinal rotation (PSLR) degrees were measured by the software of EchoPAC. RESULTS: In T2DM patients, global PSLR prominently rotated clockwise, while in normal subjects, global PSLR degrees were so small and almost had no PSLR. HBA1c negatively correlated with apex and global PSLR, that is, T2DM patients with higher HBA1c had a larger clockwise apex and global PSLR. ROC analysis showed that PSLR could detect the accuracy of LV systolic dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Cardiac clockwise global PSLR was found in T2DM patients. The cardiac contractile function in T2DM patients was impaired. The new tool of PSLR can conveniently detect cardiac systolic dysfunction in T2DM patients. HBA1c could predict systolic dysfunction in T2DM patients.