Evaluation of the Effect of Essential Hypertension on Elasticity of Ascending Aorta in Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus Patients by Echocardiography

Both essential hypertension (EH) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) can impair the elasticity of the ascending aorta. We prospectively enrolled 42 patients with T2DM, 44 patients with EH, 45 patients with T2DM and EH (T2DM + EH), and 41 healthy subjects (HS). They all underwent transthoracic echocardiography to measure ascending aorta inner diameters and a brachial blood pressure measurement to calculate aortic elastic parameters (ie, compliance, distensibility, strain, stiffness index, and Peterson elastic modulus). We found that there were no significant differences as regard with age, sex, body mass index, blood lipids and glucose, carotid atherosclerosis, and ascending aorta inner diameters among the 4 groups. The aortic elastic properties were significantly impaired in T2DM, EH, and T2DM + EH patients compared with the HS, and more impaired in EH and T2DM + EH patients than T2DM patients; there were no significant differences between EH and T2DM + EH patients. Our findings suggest that both T2DM and EH can impair aortic elastic properties. Essential hypertension may play a more important role in the process of ascending aorta sclerosis in patients with T2DM + EH.