Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: Echocardiographic and Clinical Characteristics

What is it about?

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is defined as heart failure independent of the coronary artery, valve disease and hypertension. It has multifactorial etiology but the pathogenesis is incompletely understood. Hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and inflammation with high oxidative stress lead to structural and functional alterations of the left ventricle (LV) and promote diabetic cardiomyopathy.

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Why is it important?

Doppler echocardiography is a valuable imaging technique for identifying LV dysfunction in asymptomatic patients with diabetes, and is an important part of the diagnostic algorithm in diabetic cardiomyopathy. Novel Doppler-echocardiographic techniques as are Tissue Doppler Imaging and Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography show superiority over other echocardiographic methods, regarding the early detection of LV functional abnormalities in the asymptomatic diabetic population. Its introduction in daily routine will contribute to the timely initiation of treatment of risk factors, to prevent the development of heart failure