Cor Vasa 2009, 51(5):340-347 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2009.088

Diagnosing of coronary heart disease in patients with diabetes

Vilém Danzig^1,*, Stanislav Šimek¹, Valérie Knotková², Michael Aschermann¹

¹ 2. interní klinika kardiologie a angiologie, Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice a 1. lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy

² Klinika nukleární medicíny, Fakultní nemocnice Královské Vinohrady a 3. lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, Praha, Česká republika

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common and serious cause of morbidity and in patients with diabetes mellitus already before the diagnosis has been established. Diagnosing CHD, not always a simple procedure per se, is associated with additional problems in population with diabetes, particularly because of the frequent presence of asymptomatic forms. Routinely used methods of examination include resting and exercise electrocardiography (ECG), echocardiography including stress echocardiography, nuclear medicine procedures, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. The latter three are of paramount importance in the population of patients with diabetes and may conceivably be used in various combinations as hybrid methods in the future. Coronary angiography using the "traditional" invasive approach, while becoming increasingly less important as a diagnostic method, continues to be the gold standard and, needless to say, stage one of therapeutic intervention.

Keywords: Coronary heart disease; Diabetes mellitus; Diagnostic methods

Published: May 1, 2009  Show citation