Cardiomyopathic syndrome due to coronary arter disease. II: Increased prevalence in patients with diabetes mellitus: a matched pair analysis.

Abstract

To test the hypothesis that the prevalence of a cardiomyopathic syndrome in association with coronary artery disease is higher among diabetic patients, clinical, ventriculographic and arteriographic features of coronary artery disease were evaluated in 84 patients with coronary artery disease. Diabetics (42) were compared with 42 non-diabetics who were randomly selected and matched for age, sex, blood pressure and serum lipids. The diabetic group represented all diabetic patients with angiographic coronary artery disease identified over a 6-yr period who could be matched for these variables. There is an increased prevalance of the cardiomyopathic syndrome in diabetic patients with coronary artery disease, compared with non-diabetic patients with coronary artery disease, who come to angiography, and this difference exists independently of hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The cause of the cardiomyopathic syndrome, i.e., its relation to the extent of proximal coronary artery disease and the occurrence of multiple myocardial infarcts, is the same in diabetic and non-diabetic patients.