Is chronic diabetic foot ulcer an indicator of cardiac disease?
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate presence and severity of cardiac disease in individuals with chronic diabetic foot ulcers using echocardiography. METHOD: Eighty consecutive patients with chronic foot ulcers attending the multidisciplinary diabetes foot clinic at Helsingborg Hospital underwent clinical examination, toe blood pressure measurement and a standard echocardiographic examination. RESULTS: Sixty-nine percent of the patients had a history of myocardial infarction and/or hypertension and/or heart failure; 78% had signs of left ventricular dysfunction and/or left ventricular hypertrophy and/or diastolic dysfunction; 76% of the patients without a history of cardiovascular disease had signs of cardiac dysfunction on echocardiography. CONCLUSION: Cardiac dysfunction is a common occurrence present in patients with chronic diabetic foot ulcers, even in those without known cardiac disease or hypertension. Echocardiography may be recommended as a screening procedure in the management of diabetic
