The evaluation of right ventricular function in patients with diabetes mellitus and significant stenosis at the proximal portion of the right coronary artery.

PURPOSE: Previous studies have indicated that right ventricular (RV) function is damaged in diabetes mellitus (DM); however, it is not clear whether in the presence of chronic ischemia, RV function is different between patients with and without DM (DM + and DM - , respectively). METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled 90 consecutive candidates for coronary artery bypass graft surgery and allocated them to 3 groups: 24 DM - patients with the absence of stenosis of more than 50% in the proximal and mid parts of the right coronary artery (the DM - RCA - group [control]), 33 DM - patients with the presence of significant stenosis (> 70%) in the proximal part of RCA (the DM - RCA + group), and 33 DM + patients with RCA + (the DM + RCA + group). RV function was evaluated based on longitudinal deformation markers, measured via the 2D speckle-tracking echocardiographic examination of right ventricular free wall (RVFW). RESULTS: The systolic strain value, systolic strain rate, and late diastolic strain rate of RVFW were not statistically significantly different between the three groups. Our adjusted post hoc analysis showed that the early diastolic strain rate of RVFW in the DM + RCA + group was lower than that in the DM - RCA + and DM - RCA - groups (1.5 s-1 ± 0.4 vs 1.7 s-1 ± 0.5 vs 1.7 s-1 ± 0.4). CONCLUSIONS: Diastolic function in the presence of DM was impaired irrespective of RCA - or RCA + . Additionally, RCA + had no effect on systolic and diastolic RV functions at rest in our DM - patients.