Coronary artery disease in Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus estimated by electron beam computed tomography and electron beam computed tomography angiography

Objective To assess the prevalence and risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) using electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) and EBCT angiography (EBCTA). Methods: Ninety-four cases were enrolled in this study including diabetes (n=28), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT, n=30), coronary heart disease (CHD, n=11), and control (n=25). Cardiac EBCT plain scanning and EBCTA were performed on all of these subjects to evaluate coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores, and number of segments of stenosed coronary arteries. Both CAC and/or coronary artery stenosis were defined as patients with coronary artery lesions (CAL). Results CAC scores were not different with the control, diabetes, IGT, or CHD (P>0.05) groups. Compared to control (0.520±1.295), more stenosed coronary arteries segments (P<0.05) were detected in diabetes (2.964±1.915), IGT (2.200±2.024), and CHD (2.273±1.679). Number of stenosed artery segments were correlated with age (r=0.215, P=0.019), postprandial glucose (r=0.224, P=0.015), total cholesterol (r=0.323, P=0.000), and duration of diabetes (r=0.208, P=0.004). The incidences of CAL in diabetes (96.43%), IGT (93.33%), and CHD (90.91%) was substantially higher than that in normal control (56.00%, P<0.01). The odds ratio of CAL associated with having diabetes was estimated to be 7.514 (95% CI: 1.885-63.778). Conclusions Coronary artery lesions are prevalent in Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes, implying a high CAD risk. EBCTA holds potential in depicting the details of CAL and can be used to track the progression of CAD in diabetes patients.