Stable Coronary Artery Disease in People with Diabetes: Clinical, Laboratorial and Angiographic Profile

Introduction: Abundant evidence shows that patients with diabetes mellitus are at high risk for several cardiovascular disorders. There is a growing recognition that diabetes belongs to a special category of risk factors because it markedly increases risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Purpose: evaluate the clinical, laboratorial and angiographic profile of diabetic patients.
Methods: Prospective, single center study of 216 consecutive patients (pts) admitted for elective coronary angiogram in the setting of angina and/or a test positive for ischemia. The subgroup of pts with diagnosis of CAD was analyzed. Patients were divided in two groups: Group A - diabetics and Group B – non-diabetics. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and angiographic variables were studied in the 2 groups. Significant CAD was defined as the presence of at least one lesion causing luminal stenosis ≥ 50%, in at least one epicardial vessel.
Results: In group A, patients were older (62.8±6.8 VS 56.7±8.9years old,p=0.001), more women were present (65.4 VS 34.4%,p=0.008) and patients’ body mass index (31.0±4.0 VS 28.7±3.9kg/m2,p=0.002) and waist circumference (107.8±11.4 VS 100.5±11.1cm,p=0.006) were higher comparing to group B. Group A patients had higher levels of glucose (127.3±23.8 VS 93.8±13.3mg/dL,p<0.001), LDL-cholesterol (110 (81-144.5) VS 93.0(72.5-108.7)mg/dL,p=0.027) and homocysteine (13.9±4.7 VS 11.8±3.5umol/L,p=0,05) and lower levels of hemoglobin (12.9±1.7 VS 14.1±1.5g/dL,p=0.002) and folate (5.6 (4.3-7.8) VS 7.9 (5.3-10.6)ng/mL,p=0.012) and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (66.0±23.5 VS 83.9±18.1mL/min,p=0.001). In terms of angiography, group A presented a higher number of affected vessels(p=0.018).
Conclusions: In our population, diabetic patients show a different clinical, laboratorial and angiographic profile, comparing to non-diabetics.