The vulnerable myocardium. Diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in subjects suffering from diabetes mellitus. While coronary artery disease is the leading cause of cardiac complications in diabetics, it is widely recognized that diabetes increases the risk for the development of heart failure independently of coronary heart disease and hypertension. This increased susceptibility of the diabetic heart to develop structural and functional impairment is termed diabetic cardiomyopathy. The number of different mechanisms proposed to contribute to diabetic cardiomyopathy is steadily increasing and underlines the complexity of this cardiac entity. In this review the mechanisms that account for the increased myocardial vulnerability in diabetic cardiomyopathy are discussed.