Severity of diabetic retinopathy is associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes

Aim: The aim of the study was to examine the association of severity of diabetic retinopathy (DR) with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD).

Methods: The subjects were 120 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). All patients underwent clinical evaluation, laboratory tests, and echocardiographic examination. Doppler echocardiographic indices including peak early diastolic mitral annular velocity (e') and early diastolic myocardial velocity (E) were obtained in each patient.

Results: The patients were divided into three groups based on the presence and severity of DR: no DR (n=80), simple DR (n=20), and preproliferative or proliferative DR (n=20). No patients showed systolic impairment of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF>50%), whereas impaired LV diastolic function (E/e'>8) occurred in 104 cases (87%) and LVDD (E/e'>15) was detected in 19 cases (16%). E/e' was correlated with age, sex, diabetic duration, DR stage, systolic blood pressure, and serum creatinine level. In multiple regression analysis, age (β=0.322, p<0.001) and DR stage (β=0.266, p=0.002) were independently correlated with E/e'.

Conclusions: The results of the study show that almost all subjects had asymptomatic LVDD and that the severity of DR was associated with LVDD in patients with T2DM.