Left ventricular performance during exercise in long-term type 1 diabetic men: an echocardiographic study

M-mode echocardiograms were recorded and digitized during semisupine bicycle exercise in 10 young (less than 40 years) long-term (greater than or equal to 12 years) type 1 diabetic men, without heart symptoms, and 10 controls. Recordings were done at rest, during workloads of 50 and 100 W and 1, 3 and 5 min post-exercise. The groups were comparable at rest. Exercise intervention caused a higher heart rate and systolic blood pressure response in the diabetics. Overall, diabetics had a smaller left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic dimension, but it did not change during exercise within either group; LV end-systolic dimensions (ESD), however, decreased in both. The fractional shortening, normalized peak shortening rate and systolic blood pressure/ESD ratio increased in both groups. However, fractional shortening was lower in the diabetics during peak exercise, while the two latter variables of LV systolic function were similar to the controls. Furthermore, fractional shortening during peak exercise remained lower in the diabetics even when adjusted for systolic blood pressure by covariance analysis. Therefore, the decreased LV performance during exercise in the diabetic subjects is most likely secondary to reduced LV diastolic filling, as indicated by their smaller end-diastolic dimension, rather than due to decreased contractility or a higher afterload.