QT dispersion is increased in diabetic patients with foot ulcer

Cardiometabolic risk factors and electrocardiogram results in type 2 diabetes patients with or without non-infected foot ulcers: A comparative study

BACKGROUND: Numerous investigations have demonstrated that type-2 diabetes (T2D) causes electrocardiographic alterations, whether or not there are microvascular or macrovascular problems.

AIM: With respect to glycemic control and the accompanying cardio-metabolic risk factors, the goal of this study was to demonstrate the variations in electrocardiogram records between T2D patients with non-infected diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and those without ulcers.

METHODS: This study was performed in the Shar Teaching Hospital in the Sulaimani Governorate-Iraq from July 2018 to June 2019. 167 participants were grouped into Group I (T2D, n=72); Group II (T2D with non-infected diabetic foot ulcers, n=65) and Group III (healthy subjects, n= 30). Blood pressure, electrocardiography, and anthropometric measurements were taken. Fasting serum glucose and lipid profiles were assessed as part of laboratory tests.

RESULTS: Group II patients significantly differed from Group I by having lower diastolic blood pressure, a higher pulse pressure index, and a higher fasting serum glucose. The Group I patients had a significantly higher heart rate, a shortening of TQ-interval and widening of QRS dispersion. Group II patients had a significantly shorter TQ-interval compared with the corresponding value of Group I patients (523.6±136.4ms versus 579.2±110.0ms, respectively). These changes in the electrocardiograms are not related to the cardiometabolic risk factors.

CONCLUSION: In the non-infected diabetic foot, the TQ-interval, a measure of ventricular repolarization impairment, is much shorter and is linked to a broad pulse pressure. According to this finding, the electrocardiographic abnormalities are a result of cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction.