Reduced left ventricular afterload and increased contractility in children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: an M-mode and Doppler-echocardiographic evaluation of left ventricular diastolic and systolic function.

Twenty-three children with diabetes mellitus, their ages ranging from 0.2-9.8 years, but with no sign of diabetic microvascular disease were investigated by M-mode and Doppler echocardiography, along with a comparable group of control subjects. In the diabetics, the fractional shortening and the mean velocity of fractional shortening were 14 and 18% higher, respectively, whereas the left ventricular end-systolic wall stress, an indicator of left ventricular afterload, was markedly reduced (22%). Assuming an unchanged preload in the two groups, this indicates a reduced afterload in these children. Systolic and diastolic time intervals, heart rate, and blood pressure were similar in diabetics and controls. Doppler-derived transmitral left ventricular filling indices were also similar. Thus, in these diabetic children no signs of left ventricular diastolic abnormality were detected. The state of hypercontractility of the left ventricle is considered to be due to a reduced afterload in early insulin-dependent diabetes.