Background: Cardiovascular disease is the most frequent cause of death and disability for diabetic patients, and patients with diabetes are more likely to have silent ischemia. Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) allows non-invasive assessment of coronary artery stenosis and plaque properties. In this study, we investigated whether 64-slice MDCT can non-invasively identify significant coronary artery stenosis in asymptomatic, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) patients.
Methods and results: The study population consisted of 154 consecutive asymptomatic patients [IGT (n=93), T2DM (n=61)]. All patients underwent contrast-enhanced 64-slice MDCT. The number of diseased coronary segments was classified as showing obstructive (> or = 50% luminal narrowing) disease or not. Significant coronary stenosis was detected in 43 (27.9%) of 154 enrolled patients. Patients with T2DM showed significantly more coronary stenosis than patients with IGT (41% vs. 19.4%; p<0.01). Twenty-three patients [14.9%; IGT (n=9), T2DM (n=14)] underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for severe stenosis. Patients with T2DM showed significantly more calcified plaque than IGT (47.5% vs. 29%; p<0.05), but not significantly more soft plaque (19.7% vs. 15.1%; ns), or significantly different remodeling index (1.05+/-0.18 vs. 1.04+/-0.21; ns), respectively.
Conclusions: 64-Slice MDCT can non-invasively identify significant coronary artery stenosis in asymptomatic, T2DM and IGT patients.