Association of microalbuminuria with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background Diabetes mellitus is an important independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular and renal disease which has been the cause of death in majority of the diabetic population. Albuminuria has been shown to predict cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in diabetics. Objective The purpose of this study was to correlate microalbuminuria and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (earliest manifestation of heart disease) in type 2 diabetes mellitus to aid in subclinical diagnosis, risk stratification, and prompt management of cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients. Methods This study assessed the incidence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) using echocardiography and its correlation with microalbuminuria and with other parameters like age, gender, BMI, duration of diabetes mellitus, and glycosylated hemoglobin in 90 normotensive, type 2 diabetic patients in a tertiary care hospital in Western India. Results The prevalence of LVDD in our study is 59% ( n = 53). The mean age of the study subjects was 60.7 years. Out of 59 subjects with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2 , diastolic dysfunction was seen in 31 patients. The mean duration of diabetes mellitus in our study is 11.5 years. Good glycemic control, i.e., HbA1c ≤ 7.0, was seen in 13 patients with LVDD. Out of 53 subjects with LVDD, 48 (90.5%) subjects had microalbuminuria. Conclusion There is a significant correlation between microalbuminuria and LVDD in type 2 diabetes mellitus, independent of other parameters studied (age, sex, BMI, glycemic control, and duration of diabetes).