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Vectorcardiographic evaluation of diabetic cardiomyopathy and of its contributing factors

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Summary

In order to investigate the prevalence of vectorcardiographic bites, expression of small areas of fibrosis, atrophy or degeneration of the myocardium, we studied, using the vectorcardiograms (VCG) of 101 diabetic patients (35 with insulin-dependent and 66 with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, aged from 25 to 60 years, without hypertension, coronary artery disease, or intraventricular conduction defects) and 228 normal control subjects, matched for age and sex. The prevalence of bites was 38.6% in diabetic patients and 10.0% in the control group (p<0.001). Diabetic patients were also subdivided into groups according to age, sex, metabolic control, risk factors for coronary heart disease, type of diabetes, duration of diabetes and diabetic microangiopathy. No correlation was found between any of the variables investigated nor of a combination of these, and the presence of bites. We conclude that VCG is a sensitive test for cardiac involvement in diabetic patients but that it cannot be used to identify any specific factor able to influence the onset and evolution of this involvement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Scienze Biomediche Sacco, Università di Milano, Milano

    Erminio Vitolo, Stefano Madoi, Micaela Palvarini, Donatella Silvestri & Diego Castini

  2. Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Università di Milano, Milano, Italy

    Alberto Morabito

  3. St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, U.K.

    Carlo Sponzilli

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  1. Erminio Vitolo
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  2. Stefano Madoi
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Vitolo, E., Madoi, S., Sponzilli, C. et al. Vectorcardiographic evaluation of diabetic cardiomyopathy and of its contributing factors. Acta diabet. lat 25, 227–234 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02624817

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