MYOCARDIAL ISCHEMIA DETECTION IN DIABETIC PATIENTS

Abstract

The combination of clinical coronary artery disease and diabetes mellitus is a harbinger of adverse outcome. Recently, in a jointly issued statement, the American Diabetes Association, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the American Heart Association indicated the importance of diabetes mellitus as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Patients with diabetes mellitus often have premature coronary artery disease; the disease is often asymptomatic and in an advanced stage when detected. In general, the outcome of patients with diabetes mellitus is poorer than those without diabetes, and coronary artery disease in the diabetic patient may be less amenable to favorable interventional treatment compared with the nondiabetic population.