Introduction. Several cardiovascular manifestations in patients with diabetes
may be asymptomatic. Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) is
considered to be the earliest metabolic myocardial lesion in these patients,
and can be diagnosed with tissue Doppler echocardiography. Silent myocardial
ischemia (SMI) is a characteristic and frequently described form of ischemic
heart disease in patients with diabetes. Objective. The aim of the study was
to assess the prevalence of LVDD and SMI in patients with type 2 diabetes, as
well as to compare demographic, clinical, and metabolic data among defined
groups (patients with LVDD, patients with SMI and patients with type 2
diabetes, without LVDD and SMI). Methods. We investigated 104 type 2 diabetic
patients (mean age 55.4?9.1 years, 64.4% males) with normal blood pressure,
prehypertension and arterial hypertension stage I. Study design included
basic laboratory assessment and cardiological workup (transthoracic
echocardiography and tissue Doppler, as well as the exercise stress
echocardiography). Results. LVDD was diagnosed in twelve patients (11.5%),
while SMI was revealed in six patients (5.8%). Less patients with LVDD were
using metformin, in comparison to other two groups (?2 =12.152; p=0.002).
Values of HDL cholesterol (F=4.515; p=0.013) and apolipoprotein A1 (F=5.128;
p= 0.008) were significantly higher in patients with LVDD. Conclusion. The
study confirmed asymptomatic cardiovascular complications in 17.3% patients
with type 2 diabetes.