October - December 2015, Volume 11, Issue 4

Podgórski MT, Szymanska-Garbacz E, Grzelak P, Stefanczyk L, Loba J, Czupryniak L

Usefulness of Strain Measurement in the Assessment of Carotid Arteries Stiffness in Type 1 Diabetes Patients

Acta Endo (Buc) 2015, 11 (4): 470-475
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2015.470

Context. Increased arterial stiffness is an independent risk factor of cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Objective. We aimed to evaluate elastic properties of common carotid arteries (CCA) in patients with DM type 1 (T1DM) by means of ultrasonographically based technique – two-dimensional speckle tracking. Design. Case-control observational study. Subjects and Methods. Examination of both CCA was performed in 50 patients with T1DM. The mean age of patients was 36.1 (±11.9) years and duration of diabetes was 8.9 (±11.9) years. 28 controls (mean age 38.6 ± 10.8) were examined according to the same protocol. Strain and strain rate reflected arterial wall stiffness and intimamedia complex thickness (IMCT) indicate presence of morphological changes. Parameters were compared between groups and regression analysis was performed to predict determinants of evaluated parameters. Results. Patients with T1DM had significantly more elastic CCA arteries than the healthy control (mean strain [%]: 6.05 ± 2.55 vs. 5.19 ± 1.79, p=0.0295; mean strain rate [1/s]: 0.91 ± 0.33 vs. 0.78 ± 0.25, p= 0.0142; respectively), but no significant differences in IMCT were revealed (0.49mm ± 0.12mm vs. 0.49mm ± 0.10mm, p=0.9893; respectively). Women had significantly decreased strain parameters in comparison with men, although the difference in IMCT was not significant. Conclusions. Two-dimensional speckle tracing revealed increased elasticity of CCA in patients with T1DM with no deterioration of arterial wall.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Type 1 diabetes mellitus, Two-dimensional speckle tracking, Sonography, Intima-media complex thickness.

Correspondence: Piotr Grzelak PhD, Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, Medical University of Lódz ,22 Kopcinskiego Street 90-153 Lódz, E-mail: piotr.grzelak@umed.lodz.pl