Evaluation of ascending aorta and radial artery elasticity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus via velocity vector imaging.

BACKGROUND

A decrease in arterial elasticity may contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis, the sequelae of which are the most common causes of death in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. The aim of this study was to assess ascending aorta (AA) and radial artery (RA) elasticity in T2DM patients via velocity vector imaging (VVI).

METHODS

We enrolled 50 patients with T2DM and 52 age- and sex-matched nondiabetic individuals as controls. All the participants underwent echocardiography and RA ultrasound examinations. AA elasticity parameters, i.e., ascending aortic mean longitudinal strain (ALS), ascending aortic global circumferential strain (ACS), ascending aortic fractional area change (FAC), and RA elasticity parameters, i.e., radial arterial mean longitudinal strain (RLS) and radial arterial global circumferential strain (RCS), were evaluated with VVI. The differences in arterial elasticity parameters between diabetic and non-diabetic patients were evaluated by a paired t-test. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to demonstrate the relationship between arterial elasticity parameters and clinical risk factors and cardiovascular biometrics in T2DM patients.

RESULTS

We found that the T2DM group presented significantly lower ALS, ACS, FAC, RLS and RCS values than the control group did (all P<0.05). There were significant associations between all arterial elasticity parameters and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and diabetes duration (ALS and HbA1c: r=-0.36, ALS and diabetes duration: r=-0.52, ACS and HbA1c: r=-0.32, ACS and diabetes duration: r=-0.38, FAC and HbA1c: r=-0.36, FAC and diabetes duration: r=-0.32, RLS and HbA1c: r=-0.39, RLS and diabetes duration: r=-0.46, RCS and HbA1c: r=-0.31, RCS and diabetes duration: r=-0.39, respectively; P<0.01). Additionally, the ALS was significantly negatively correlated with fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (r=-0.30, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The elasticity of the AA and RA in T2DM patients was impaired. Decreased arterial elasticity was associated with poor blood glucose control and a longer duration of diabetes. Further studies are needed to assess the clinical value of VVI findings for predicting future cardiac events.