Cut-Off Point Value to Evaluate Abnormality of Systolic Deformation Parameters in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to determine the cut-off value that can be used to evaluate systolic deformation parameters and the prevalence of abnormalities in left ventricular function in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study used a cross-sectional descriptive method. The study’s sample size was 311 people (including 192 subjects with T2D and 119 subjects as the controls). The subjects who participated had to meet both the exclusion criteria and inclusion criteria. Besides clinical examinations, they underwent an echocardiography and laboratory tests. Statistical analyses included frequency, mean, unpaired t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, and receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: The average age of the T2D group was 66.5 ± 10.2 years, and the control group were aged 64.7 ± 6.0 years; the groups comprised 37% men and 63% women. The cut-off value to evaluate the abnormality of global longitudinal strain (GLS) was –19%, the global longitudinal strain rate (GLSR) was –1.9 1/s, the global circumferential strain (GCS) was 27.4%, the global circumferential strain rate (GCSR) was –3.2 1/s, and the longitudinal — circumferential index was 22.4%. The proportion of T2D patients with abnormal GLS was 78.6%, GLSR was 65.1%, GCS was 45.8%, GCSR was 60.9%, and longitudinal-circumferential index was 50%. CONCLUSIONS: Speckle tracking echocardiography was more sensitive in identifying subclinical myocardial dysfunction than conventional echocardiography. A large proportion of patients with T2D had abnormal left ventricular systolic deformation, even though the ejection fraction was still normal.