Coronary CTA exposes plaque risk for diabetics

Findings from a large multicenter study suggest 64-slice CT angiography is better suited than other cardiac diagnostic tests for detecting clinically relevant coronary artery plaques in patients with diabetes.

Dr. Fay Y. Lin, an associate professor of medicine at Cornell University, and colleagues prospectively evaluated a cohort of 3926 patients with symptomatic cardiovascular disease, Lin determined that 727 had diabetes. All patients underwent coronary 64-slice CTA between 2005 and 2007. Researchers found that patients with diabetes faced twice the risk of dying from a cardiac-related problem within two years of diagnosis as nondiabetic patients. CTA more accurately characterized plaque burden than alternative modalities for patients with low calcium score or normal stress testing results. Lin reported the findings at the 2009 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography meeting.