Impact of atherosclerotic extent on clinical outcome for diabetic patients with non-obstructive coronary artery disease

Zinuan Liu; Yipu Ding; Guanhua Dou; Xia Yang; Xi Wang; Dongkai Shan; Bai He; Jing Jing; Yundai Chen; Junjie Yang

doi:10.1016/j.athplu.2021.07.021

Impact of atherosclerotic extent on clinical outcome for diabetic patients with non-obstructive coronary artery disease

Atheroscler Plus. 2021 Jul 29:44:10-17. doi: 10.1016/j.athplu.2021.07.021. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Authors

Zinuan Liu¹, Yipu Ding^{1

2}, Guanhua Dou¹, Xia Yang¹, Xi Wang¹, Dongkai Shan¹, Bai He¹, Jing Jing¹, Yundai Chen¹, Junjie Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
² School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.

Abstract

Background and aims: The prognostic impact of non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) has long been underestimated due to its mild stenosis (<50% stenosis). We aim to investigate the prognostic value of atherosclerotic extent in DM patients with non-obstructive CAD.

Methods: The analysis was based on a single center cohort of DM patients referred for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) due to suspect CAD in 2015-2017. Based on coronary stenosis combined with segment involvement score (SIS), the study population were divided into four groups: normal (0% stenosis), non-obstructive SIS<3, non-obstructive SIS≥3 and obstructive (≥50% stenosis). The intra-class correlation (ICC) was used to test the inter-and intra-reviewer agreement. Multivariate Cox model and Kaplan-Meier method were used to evaluate the effect size of atherosclerotic extent on the prognosis.

Results: In total, 1241 patients (age 60.2 ± 10.4 years, 54.1% male) were included, of which 50.2% were non-obstructive. During a median follow-up of 2.6 years, 131 MACEs (10.6%) were adjudicated, including 17 cardiovascular deaths, 28 non-fatal myocardial infarctions, 64 unstable anginas requiring hospitalization and 22 strokes. Incremental event rates could be observed across the four groups. After adjustment for age, gender, hyperlipidemia and presence of high-risk plaque, Hazard Ratio (HR) for non-obstructive SIS<3, non-obstructive SIS≥3 and the obstructive group was 1.84 (95%CI: 0.70-4.79), 3.71 (95%CI: 1.37-10.00) and 5.46 (95%CI: 2.18-13.69), respectively. Compared with non-obstructive SIS<3, non-obstructive SIS≥3 showed a significantly higher risk (HR:2.02 95%CI:1.11-3.68, p = 0.021). Similar results were demonstrated when Leiden risk score was used for sensitivity analysis.

Conclusion: In DM patients with non-obstructive CAD, atherosclerotic extent was associated with higher risk of major adverse cardiac events at long-term follow-up. Efforts should be made to determine risk stratification for the management of DM patients with non-obstructive CAD.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Coronary computed tomography angiography; Diabetes mellitus; Non-obstructive coronary artery disease; Risk stratification.