Sammanfattning
There are 320,000 diabetes patients in Denmark. Heart failure (HF) is a major cardiovascular complication to diabetes mellitus with increasing prevalence. HF occurs 2-4 times more frequently in diabetes patients, but patients may go undiagnosed for years. Diabetes patients typically suffer from diastolic dysfunction caused by myocardial hypertrophy and “stiffness” of the left ventricle. This frequent finding has prompted the term “diabetic cardiomyopathy”. Echocardiography is a key examination in diagnosing HF and may be warranted to a greater degree in diabetes patients at particular risk.