Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Nov 10:9:74.
doi: 10.1186/1475-2840-9-74.

Characteristics of coronary artery disease in symptomatic type 2 diabetic patients: evaluation with CT angiography

Zhi-gang Chu  1 , Zhi-gang Yang, Zhi-hui Dong, Zhi-yu Zhu, Li-qing Peng, Heng Shao, Ci He, Wen Deng, Si-shi Tang, Jing Chen
Affiliations

Characteristics of coronary artery disease in symptomatic type 2 diabetic patients: evaluation with CT angiography

Zhi-gang Chu et al. Cardiovasc Diabetol. .

Abstract

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a common and severe complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The aim of this study is to identify the features of CAD in diabetic patients using coronary CT angiography (CTA).

Methods: From 1 July 2009 to 20 March 2010, 113 consecutive patients (70 men, 43 women; mean age, 68 ± 10 years) with type 2 DM were found to have coronary plaques on coronary CTA. Their CTA data were reviewed, and extent, distribution and types of plaques and luminal narrowing were evaluated and compared between different sexes.

Results: In total, 287 coronary vessels (2.5 ± 1.1 per patient) and 470 segments (4.2 ± 2.8 per patient) were found to have plaques, respectively. Multi-vessel disease was more common than single vessel disease (p < 0.001), and the left anterior descending (LAD) artery (35.8%) and its proximal segment (19.1%) were most frequently involved (all p < 0.001). Calcified plaques (48.8%) were the most common type (p < 0.001) followed by mixed plaques (38.1%). Regarding the different degrees of stenosis, mild narrowing (36.9%) was most common (p < 0.001); however, a significant difference was not observed between non-obstructive and obstructive stenosis (50.4% vs. 49.6%, p = 0.855). Extent of CAD, types of plaques and luminal narrowing were not significantly different between male and female diabetic patients.

Conclusions: Coronary CTA depicted a high plaque burden in patients with type 2 DM. Plaques, which were mainly calcified, were more frequently detected in the proximal segment of the LAD artery, and increased attention should be paid to the significant prevalence of obstructive stenosis. In addition, DM reduced the sex differential in CT findings of CAD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Volume rendering image shows the branches of coronary artery. LM: left main; LAD: left anterior descending; LCX: left circumflex; RCA: right coronary artery.
Figure 2
Figure 2
This image shows many calcified plaques, the density of which is significantly higher than contrast-enhanced lumen.
Figure 3
Figure 3
This image shows a non-calcified plaque, which manifested as an eccentric filling defect and causes significant stenosis (arrow).
Figure 4
Figure 4
This image shows many mixed plaques, which manifested as many calcified plaques and non-calcified plaques (arrows) mix together.
Figure 5
Figure 5
A male diabetic patient with multi-vessel disease. A, Volume rendering image shows the edge of left and right coronary vessels is unsmooth, and the proximal segment of LAD artery has significant stenosis (arrow). B, Globe image of coronary arteries shows there are many plaques distributing in the whole course of the LAD, LCX and RAC arteries.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Graph shows the percentages of different types of plaques in different age groups. The proportion of calcified plaques increases and that of non-calcified ones decreases as the patients aged.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Haffner SM, Lehto S, Ronnemaa T, Pyorala K, Laakso M. Mortality from coronary heart disease in subjects with type 2 diabetes and in nondiabetic subjects with and without prior myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med. 1998;339:229–234. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199807233390404. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Steiner G. Atherosclerosis, the major complication of diabetes. Adv Exp Med Biol. 1985;189:277–297. - PubMed
    1. Selby JV, Ray GT, Zhang D, Colby CJ. Excess costs of medical care for patients with diabetes in a managed care population. Diabetes Care. 1997;20:1396–1401. doi: 10.2337/diacare.20.9.1396. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Djaberi R, Beishuizen ED, Pereira AM, Rabelink TJ, Smit JW, Tamsma JT, Huisman MV, Jukema JW. Non-invasive cardiac imaging techniques and vascular tools for the assessment of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetologia. 2008;51:1581–1593. doi: 10.1007/s00125-008-1062-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Budoff MJ, Achenbach S, Blumenthal RS, Carr JJ, Goldin JG, Greenland P, Guerci AD, Lima JA, Rader DJ, Rubin GD, Shaw LJ, Wiegers SE. American Heart Association Committee on Cardiovascular Imaging and Intervention; American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention; American Heart Association Committee on Cardiac Imaging, Council on Clinical Cardiology. Assessment of coronary artery disease by cardiac computed tomography: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association committee on cardiovascular imaging and intervention, council on cardiovascular radiology and intervention, and committee on cardiac Imaging, council on clinical cardiology. Circulation. 2006;114:1761–1791. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.106.178458. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms