Association of Intima-media Complex Thickness with Coronary Artery Stenosis Assessed by 64-slice Multidetector Computed Tomography

Abstract

Patients with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for developing coronary heart disease. Recently, multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) has emerged as a promising modality to detect coronary heart disease. We studied the prevalence of coronary artery stenosis with 64-slice MDCT in asymptomatic type 2 diabetes patients and investigated the correlation of these findings with several clinical parameters.
Among 140 asymptomatic type 2 diabetes patients, 71 patients (50.7%) had coronary artery stenosis or calcification. The rate of coronary artery stenosis or calcification was higher in patients with established diagnoses of diabetes for more than 11 years (72.7% vs 43.0%), hypertension (61.4% vs 38.9%), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) >1600 m/s (63.4% vs 29.1%) and maximal intima-media thickness (max IMT) >0.9 mm (66.7% vs 40.7%) compared to that in other patients. Max IMT was significantly higher in patients with coronary artery stenosis or calcification (0.775±0.246 mm vs 0.909±0.222 mm, p<0.01).
Our findings show that the prevalence of coronary stenosis in asymptomatic type 2 diabetes patients is high. In particular, the progression of max IMT is a greater risk factor for coronary heart disease. MDCT is an effective modality to detect subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in these patients at high risk.