Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a distinct entity in diabetic patients with congestive heart failure, who have no angiographic evidence of significant coronary artery stenosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate left ventricular (LV) function in 24 elderly patients (mean age 67 +/- 2 years) with type 2 diabetes, who were asymptomatic and had no history of hypertension, or coronary or valvular heart disease. LV systolic indices (ejection fraction [EF] and fractional shortening [FS]), diastolic indices (E wave, A wave, E/A ratio, isovolumic relaxation time [IVRT] and deceleration time [DT]) and the myocardial performance index (MPI) were evaluated with echocardiography. Compared to controls (24 age- and gender-matched normal subjects), the E wave was reduced (0.60 +/- 0.10 m/sec vs 0.72 +/- 0.08 m/sec, p < 0.05), the A wave was increased (0.77 +/- 0.07 m/sec vs 0.68 +/- 0.06 m/sec, p < 0.05), the E/A ratio was decreased (0.78 +/- 0.20 vs 1.06 +/- 0.18, p < 0.001) and both IVRT and DT were prolonged (0.115 +/- 0.01 sec vs 0.09 +/- 0.01 sec, p < 0.001 and 0.240 +/- 0.04 sec vs 0.180 +/- 0.03 sec, p < 0.001, respectively). The MPI was significantly increased (0.640 +/- 0.170 vs 0.368 +/- 0.098, p < 0.001). LV diastolic function and the MPI are markedly impaired in asymptomatic elderly patients with type 2 diabetes.

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