title: Diabetes supersedes dobutamine stress echocardiography in predicting cardiac events in female patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The many available choices for testing for coronary artery disease (CAD) brought about several questions regarding suitability of certain tests for different groups of patients and the prognostic value of obtained results in predicting events and mortality. The aim of this study is to describe the prognostic value of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) results in predicting cardiac events and mortality in > or = 60-year-old females.
  
  
  METHODS
  49 women (> or = 60 years old) who were referred for DSE were included in the study. Data including CAD risk factors, and results of tests and a follow-up of events (MI, unstable angina, progression of CHF) and death.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eleven patients were considered to have a positive DSE result. There was no difference between DSE (+) and DSE (-) patients in cardiac events and cardiac death. However when interventions were included to events, analysis showed DSE (+) to have more overall events. Non-cardiac deaths and "all deaths" were 11 and 8 times more common among DSE (+) patients compared with DSE (-) patients p < 0.01. Multivariable logistic regression showed that diabetics and DSE (+) patients were 32 (p = 0.01) and 23 (p = 0.02) times more likely to have an event compared with non-diabetics and DSE (-) patients, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DSE is a safe procedure to be used in > or = 60-year-old female patients and can provide informative prognostic information regarding all-cause deaths and cardiac events (including interventions) over a 4-year period. In addition we find that diabetes is a strong predictor of events regardless of DSE result.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Isma'eel
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shamseddeen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Khoury
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dimassi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nasrallah
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Arnaout
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000453:epidemiology; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D025401:Echocardiography, Stress; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors