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Prognostic significance of myocardial ischemia during dobutamine stress echocardiography in asymptomatic patients with diabetes mellitus and no prior history of coronary events.

Sozzi FB, Elhendy A, Rizzello V, Biagini E, van Domburg RT, Schinkel AF, Bax JJ, Vourvouri E, Danzi GB, Poldermans D

IRCCS Cardiology, Fondazione Ospedale Maggiore, Milan, Italy. fabiola_sozzi@yahoo.it

The prognostic significance of myocardial ischemia assessed by dobutamine stress echocardiography in asymptomatic patients with diabetes mellitus who have no previous coronary artery disease remains unclear. We assessed the value of dobutamine stress echocardiography for risk stratification in 161 asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes (mean 62 +/- 12 years of age; 96 men) who had no previous myocardial infarction or revascularization. End point during follow-up was hard cardiac events (cardiac death and nonfatal myocardial infarction). Ischemia was detected in 45 patients (28%). During a median follow-up of 5 years, 40 patients (25%) died (18 cardiac deaths) and 7 patients had nonfatal myocardial infarction (25 hard cardiac events). An abnormal dobutamine stress echocardiogram was associated with a higher mortality compared with a normal dobutamine stress echocardiogram (p = 0.03). In an incremental multivariate analysis model, clinical predictors of hard cardiac events were age and hypercholesterolemia. Ischemia was incremental to the clinical parameters. In conclusion, myocardial ischemia is an independent predictor of cardiac events in asymptomatic diabetic patients with no previous coronary artery disease.

Published 4 May 2007 in Am J Cardiol, 99(9): 1193-5.
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