Left ventricular wall mass and wall thickness in insulin dependent diabetic patients without clinical signs of ischaemic heart disease.

Left ventricular wall mass and thickness were investigated by echocardiography in 80 insulin dependent diabetic patients with no signs of ischaemic heart disease and in 40 healthy controls. In diabetics with duration of disease greater than 30 years, with urinary albumin excretion rate greater than 200 micrograms/min (clinical nephropathy), with proliferative retinopathy or with autonomic neuropathy both the posterior wall thickness and the septal thickness were increased compared to controls. The posterior wall thickness and the septal thickness were positively correlated to blood pressure (p less than 0.001), duration of disease (p less than 0.001), urinary albumin excretion rate (p less than 0.001) and negatively correlated to the heart rate variation during deep respiration (p less than 0.01). The left ventricular wall mass was correlated to both blood pressure (p less than 0.01) and to urinary albumin excretion rate (p less than 0.01). By multiple regression analysis urinary albumin excretion rate, duration of disease and heart rate variation during deep respiration did not add significantly to the correlation between left ventricular wall mass/wall thickness and blood pressure. In conclusion, left ventricular wall thickness and wall mass were related to blood pressure in insulin dependent diabetics.