Calcium Score Good Clue to Risk of CV Death in Diabetes

The amount of plaque in the arterial beds can help stratify high-risk diabetes better than traditional risk factors. Calculating a coronary artery calcium score in patients with type 2 diabetes might help identify those who are at greater risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, according to Subhashish Agarwal, MD, from Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, and colleagues, who conducted the Diabetes Heart Study. The researchers had previously found that coronary calcium was a predictor of all-cause (six-fold) and cardiovascular (11-fold) death in those with diabetes independent of traditional risk factors. In the current study, they found that coronary plaque was a better predictor of death compared with carotid and aorto-iliac calcium. ADA 72^nd Scientific Meeting June 8, 2012