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Old Thu, Feb-04-16, 03:43
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JEY100 JEY100 is online now
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Plan: P:E/DDF
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Article on the CAC today on MedPage:

Quote:
CAC Named Best Heart Risk Screen in T2DM
ACC report offers algorithm to gauge risk in asymptomatic patients


Coronary artery calcium imaging, followed by a functional stress test if the calcium score is high, may be the best way to determine cardiovascular risk in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a report from the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
New evidence suggests that diabetes is not necessarily a coronary heart disease risk equivalent as was previously thought -- 25% to 30% of patients with diabetes are actually at low cardiovascular risk, said lead author of the report, Matthew Budoff, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues on the ACC's Imaging Council.

A diabetic patient's actual risk depends on other factors including gender, the presence and extent of atherosclerosis, additional risk factors, clinical symptoms, and chronic kidney disease, Budoff and colleagues said in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging.
"New guidelines have started to acknowledge the heterogeneity in risk and include different treatment recommendations for diabetic patients without other risk factors who are considered to be at lower risk," they wrote. "Furthermore, guidelines have suggested that further risk stratification in patients with diabetes is warranted before universal treatment."
"By properly evaluating the level of coronary heart disease risk, physicians will know when to prescribe more aggressive and less aggressive treatment strategies for their patients," Budoff said in a statement. "While more recent data indicates the risk of coronary heart disease for people with type 2 diabetes is less than was previously believed, it is still critical for physicians to properly assess risk and provide the appropriate strategies of care."
To help doctors better assess cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes, Budoff and colleagues reviewed the available evidence on noninvasive testing for risk-stratification in asymptomatic diabetes patients, including coronary computed tomography, radionuclide imaging, echocardiography, and other tests......

The article goes on about statins and the JACC is paid journal for cardiologists, but the interesting point is that the ACC is now accepting the CAC as a good screening tool
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