title: Why to screen heart disease in diabetes.
abstract: The expanding diabetic epidemic and the high risk of cardiovascular events in diabetic patients suggest that screening heart disease in this population is an important issue. Nonetheless, the advisability of large-scale screening in asymptomatic individuals with diabetes is debated, because available techniques are expensive and have suboptimal diagnostic accuracy. Moreover, all diabetic patients should be treated aggressively as if they all had a positive screening test, because diabetes could be considered a coronary risk equivalent. In this article, we underline the importance of an early diagnosis of coronary artery disease and heart failure in diabetic patients, suggesting that positive screening tests have significant implications in clinical management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Metabolic Division and Diabetology, University of Padova Medical School, Padova, Italy. gianpaolo.fadini@unipd.it
authors.forename: Gian Paolo
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Fadini
authors.forename: Saula Vigili
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: de Kreutzenberg
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tiengo
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Avogaro
mesh_terms: D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D018579:Patient Selection; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents