Cardiac outcomes after screening for asymptomatic coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes: the DIAD study: a randomized controlled trial.
BACKGROUND
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes. But the utility of screening patients with type 2 diabetes for asymptomatic CAD is controversial.


OBJECTIVE
To assess whether routine screening for CAD identifies patients with type 2 diabetes as being at high cardiac risk and whether it affects their cardiac outcomes.


METHODS
The Detection of Ischemia in Asymptomatic Diabetics (DIAD) study is a randomized controlled trial in which 1123 participants with type 2 diabetes and no symptoms of CAD were randomly assigned to be screened with adenosine-stress radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) or not to be screened. Participants were recruited from diabetes clinics and practices and prospectively followed up from August 2000 to September 2007.


METHODS
Cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI).


RESULTS
The cumulative cardiac event rate was 2.9% over a mean (SD) follow-up of 4.8 (0.9) years for an average of 0.6% per year. Seven nonfatal MIs and 8 cardiac deaths (2.7%) occurred among the screened group and 10 nonfatal MIs and 7 cardiac deaths (3.0%) among the not-screened group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44-1.88; P = .73). Of those in the screened group, 409 participants with normal results and 50 with small MPI defects had lower event rates than the 33 with moderate or large MPI defects; 0.4% per year vs 2.4% per year (HR, 6.3; 95% CI, 1.9-20.1; P = .001). Nevertheless, the positive predictive value of having moderate or large MPI defects was only 12%. The overall rate of coronary revascularization was low in both groups: 31 (5.5%) in the screened group and 44 (7.8%) in the unscreened group (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.45-1.1; P = .14). During the course of study there was a significant and equivalent increase in primary medical prevention in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
In this contemporary study population of patients with diabetes, the cardiac event rates were low and were not significantly reduced by MPI screening for myocardial ischemia over 4.8 years.


BACKGROUND
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00769275.
Yale University School of Medicine, Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Lawrence H
LH
Young
Frans J Th
FJ
Wackers
Deborah A
DA
Chyun
Janice A
JA
Davey
Eugene J
EJ
Barrett
Raymond
R
Taillefer
Gary V
GV
Heller
Ami E
AE
Iskandrian
Steven D
SD
Wittlin
Neil
N
Filipchuk
Robert E
RE
Ratner
Silvio E
SE
Inzucchi
D000241:Adenosine; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi; D014665:Vasodilator Agents
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi; D000241:Adenosine