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 patients with chronic foot ulcers. The present study supports the view that diabetic chronic foot ulcers ought to be seen as a sign of cardiac disease, although further research is needed to elucidate this issue.