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VOLUME 12 NUMBER 2 • NOVEMBER 2015
83
SA JOURNAL OF DIABETES & VASCULAR DISEASE
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Increased relative wall thickness is a marker of subclinical
cardiac target-organ damage in African diabetic patients
PILLY CHILLO, JOHNSON LWAKATARE, JANET LUTALE, EVA GERDTS
Correspondence to: Pilly Chillo
Institute of Medicine, University of Bergen, Norway
e-mail:
pchillo2000@yahoo.co.ukEva Gerdts
Department of Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
Johnson Lwakatare
Muhimbili University College of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania
Janet Lutale
Muhimbili University College of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania
Previously published in
Cardiovasc J Afr
2012;
23
: 435–441
S Afr J Diabetes Vasc Dis
2015;
12
: 83–88
Abstract
Objective:
To assess the prevalence and covariates of
abnormal left ventricular (LV) geometry in diabetic
outpatients attending Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania.
Methods:
Echocardiography was performed in 61 type 1 and
123 type 2 diabetes patients. LV hypertrophy was taken as
LV mass/height
2.7
> 49.2 g/m
2.7
in men and > 46.7 g/m
2.7
in
women. Relative wall thickness (RWT) was calculated as the
ratio of LV posterior wall thickness to end-diastolic radius
and considered increased if ≥ 0.43. LV geometry was defined
from LV mass index and RWT in combination.
Results:
The most common abnormal LV geometries were
concentric remodelling in type 1 (30%) and concentric
hypertrophy in type 2 (36.7%) diabetes patients. Overall,
increased RWT was present in 58% of the patients. In
multivariate analyses, higher RWT was independently
associated with hypertension, longer isovolumic relaxation
time, lower stress-corrected midwall shortening and
circumferential endsystolic stress, both in type 1 (multiple
R
2
= 0.73) and type 2 diabetes patients (multiple
R
2
= 0.66), both
p
< 0.001. These associations were independent of gender,
LV hypertrophy or renal dysfunction.
Conclusion:
Increased RWT is common among diabetic sub-
Saharan Africans and is associated with hypertension and LV
dysfunction.
Keywords:
left ventricular geometry, African diabetes, relative wall
thickness
The co-existence of diabetes with other cardiovascular risk factors,
such as hypertension and obesity, may contribute to the association
of diabetes with subclinical cardiac targetorgan damage such as left
ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and dysfunction. In addition, several
reports have suggested that diabetes has direct adverse effects on
the heart, independent of obstructive coronary artery disease.
1,2
In the Strong Heart study, non-insulin dependent diabetes was
associated with a 12 to 14% higher LV mass/height
2.7
as well as
reduced LV systolic functio and increased arterial stiffness.
3
Among
hypertensive diabetic African Americans, increased relative wall
thickness (RWT) and LV hypertrophy have been found to be more
prevalent,
4,5
and earlier development of cardiac end-organ damage
than in Caucasians has been suggested.
6
In sub-Saharan Africa, diabetes and other cardiovascular
diseases were considered rare.
7
As a result, research focus has been
on infectious diseases. However, recent publications in the region
have shown an increase in the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension
and other cardiovascular risk factors,
8
and a high prevalence of
LV hypertrophy, in particular in hypertensive patients, has been
reported.
9
However, there are limited data on subclinical cardiac
target-organ damage in diabetic patients.
The aim of the present study was therefore to determine the
prevalence and covariates of abnormal LV geometry among type
1 and type 2 diabetes outpatients of African origin attending
Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Methods
This study was a prospectively planned follow-up examination of
244 diabetic patients of African origin who participated in a diabetes
study programme that included clinical and biochemical examination
at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2003–
2004.
10,11
Of the total 244 patients who participated in the first
survey, 184 patients (75%) were still receiving care at the diabetes
outpatient clinic in Muhimbili National Hospital in 2008. Patients
were informed about the follow-up study when attending their
regular visits at the diabetes outpatient clinic and subsequently
invited to participate. All 184 patients agreed to participate and
signed informed consent.
A structured questionnaire was used for interviewing the
patients on socio-demographic characteristics, history of other
cardiovascular risk factors and duration of diabetes. Height and
weight were measured and used to calculate body mass index.
Waist circumference was measured at the level of the umbilicus
and used as a measure of central obesity. Blood pressure was
measured using a mercury sphygmomanometer and appropriate
cuff size. After five minutes’ rest in the sitting position, a set of
three readings was taken five minutes apart. The average of the
last two readings was taken as the patient’s clinic blood pressure.
12
Hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg or
use of antihypertensive medication.
Fasting capillary blood glucose and glycated haemoglobin (HbA
1c
)
levels were measured on spot; blood glucose by a HemoCue AB
glucose analyser (Angelholm, Sweden) andHbA
1c
using aDCA2000+
analyser (Bayer Inc., New York, USA). Urinary albumin/creatinine
ratio (UACR) was measured in a spot morning urine sample using
the same DCA 2000+ analyser, which measures urine albumin (in
mg/l) and creatinine (in mg/dl) concentrations and calculates the
urine albuminto-creatinine ratio (UACR). Microalbuminuria was
defined as UACR > 30 mg/g and macroalbuminuria as UACR >