Coronary artery disease is detectable by multi-slice computed tomography in most asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients at high cardiovascular risk

Objective: Non-invasive testing often does not identify coronary artery disease (CAD) in diabetic subjects. This study was designed in order to examine the prevalence of CAD in a cohort of asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients at high cardiovascular risk and negative nuclear imaging, using multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) angiography.Methods: In total, 770 type 2 diabetic patients were screened from January 2008 through July 2010. Of these, 132 Caucasians with diabetic nephropathy and asymptomatic for angina were eligible for a cross-sectional study. Patients underwent MSCT after ischaemia was excluded by myocardial Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) at rest and after dynamic exercise. When obstructive plaques were found (≥50% lumen narrowing), patients were sent to conventional coronary angiography (CCA).Results: Six subjects were not included in the analysis because of motion artefacts. MSCT was positive for CAD in 114 patients (90%). Within patients with positive MSCT, 60 (48% of ...