Background: Recent studies have suggested that microvascular and macrovascular diseases are associated with coronary events.
Objective: To test the hypothesis that asymptomatic coronary heart disease (CHD) may be present in many patients with diabetes with vascular complications.
Design: From April 2009 to August 2010, the authors conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence of asymptomatic CHD among patients with type 2 diabetes with vascular complications at a national diabetes centre in Japan. Eligibility criteria included patients with type 2 diabetes with no known CHD and one or more of the following four criteria: (1) proliferative diabetic retinopathy or after photocoagulation; (2) estimated glomerular filtration rate <30 ml/min/1.73 m² or an estimated glomerular filtration rate <45 ml/min/1.73 m² plus albuminuria; (3) peripheral arterial disease; and (4) cerebrovascular disease. Each patient underwent a stress single-photon emission computed tomography; patients with myocardial perfusion abnormalities then underwent coronary angiography.
Results: A total of 1008 patients with type 2 diabetes were screened, and 122 eligible patients consented to participate. Stress single-photon emission computed tomography revealed myocardial perfusion abnormalities in 96 (79%) patients. Of the 112 patients who completed the study protocol, 59 (53%) had asymptomatic CHD with ≥50% diameter stenosis. Additionally, 35 (31%) patients had multivessel disease or left main disease, and 42 (38%) had a coronary artery with ≥75% diameter stenosis. In the multivariate logistic-regression analysis to identify coronary risk factors associated with asymptomatic CHD, the only significant predictor was male sex (OR 6.18; 95% CI 2.30 to 16.64; p<0.001).
Conclusions: Asymptomatic CHD with ≥50% diameter stenosis and myocardial perfusion abnormalities was detected in more than half of the patients with type 2 diabetes with vascular complications.