Left Ventricular Mass in Diabetic Patients

Abstract

Background: The increased left ventricular mass (LVM) is a strong risk factor for cardiac mortality. Although the relationship between diabetes mellitus (DM) and LVM in adults is established, it is not universally accepted in young diabetic patients. We sought to determine LVM in young diabetics, healthy youngs with diabetic parents, and healthy youngs. Methods: This is a descriptive case- control study. The non-probability convenience sampling was done to choose 30 young insulin dependent diabetics (group I), 30 healthy young with history of DM in one of his or her parents (group II), and 30 healthy young without history of DM in his or her parents (group III). The LVM of these 3 groups were measured by twodimensional echocardiography and mean of LVM in 3 groups were compared by ANOVA. Results: The mean age of patients was 14.3 ± 2.3 years. ANOVA showed significant difference between LVM in three groups. (F=5.005 p=0.009). According to Scheffe test, the difference between group II and group III was significant while there was no significant difference between group I and other groups. Conclusion: This study showed that offsprings of diabetic patients have significantly higher LVM than normal healthy groups but diabetic patients have mildly increased LVM versus control group. The higher LVM in healthy youngs with diabetic parents must be noted and more studies must be performed on this group who may be benefited from risk factor modification.
Keywords: Left Ventricular Mass, Diabetes, Diabetic Parents, Isfahan.