Association between sarcopenia and the risk of diabetic cardiomyopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a single-center retrospective cohort study.

Sarcopenia independently increases the risk of diabetic cardiomyopathy by 2.25 times in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

• Why it matters: Understanding this link is crucial because sarcopenia is a common complication in T2DM, yet its role in predicting heart disease like DCM remains unclear, hindering early intervention strategies.
• What they did: The study analyzed 400 T2DM patients using AWGS 2019 and 2025 criteria for sarcopenia and Doppler echocardiography for DCM diagnosis, employing multivariate regression and propensity score matching to assess associations.
• The result: Findings show sarcopenic patients have a significantly higher prevalence of DCM, with elevated inflammatory and metabolic markers, suggesting routine sarcopenia screening could help identify patients at increased risk for early management.