Vascular dysfunction measured by fingertip thermal monitoring is associated with the extent of myocardial perfusion defect.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that vascular dysfunction measured by digital thermal monitoring (DTM) during an arm-cuff reactive hyperemia procedure correlates with the severity of coronary artery disease measured by coronary artery calcium in asymptomatic patients. Current study investigates the correlation between DTM and abnormal myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). METHODS: About 116 consecutive patients with chest discomfort, age 57 +/- 10 years, underwent MPI, DTM and Framingham Risk Score (FRS) assessment. Fingertip temperature rebound (TR), DTM index of vascular reactivity, was assessed after a 2-minute arm-cuff reactive hyperemia test. The extent of myocardial perfusion defect was measured by summed stress score (SSS). RESULTS: TR decreased from SSS < 4 (1.61 +/- 0.15) to 4 < or = SSS < or = 8 (0.5 +/- 0.22) to 9 < or = SSS < or = 13 (0.26 +/- 0.15) to SSS > 13 (-0.37 +/- 0.19) (P = .0001). After adjusting for cardiac risk factors, the odds ratio of the lowest versus two upper tertiles of TR was 3.93 for SSS > or = 4 and 9.65 for SSS > or = 8 compared to SSS < 4. TR correlated well with SSS (r = -0.88, P = .0001). Addition of TR to FRS increased the area under the ROC curve to predict abnormal MPI, SSS > or = 4, from 0.65 to 0.84 (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Vascular dysfunction measured by DTM is associated with the extent of myocardial perfusion defect independent of age, gender, and cardiac risk factors.

Comparison of atherosclerotic plaque burden and composition between diabetic and non diabetic patients by non invasive CT angiography.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and atherosclerotic burden. However little data exists in regards to plaque distribution and plaque composition in these patients. To assess for differences in the coronary plaques burden and composition among symptomatic patients with and without type 2 DM using multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA). The 416 symptomatic patients (64% males, mean age: 61 +/- 13 years) with 61 (15%) reporting type 2 DM, who underwent contrast-enhanced MDCTA were studied. Enrolled patients had an intermediate to high pre-test probability of obstructive coronary artery disease. Multivariate analysis was used to correct for differences in age and gender. Patients with type 2 DM were more likely to have significant stenosis >or=70% in at least one coronary segments (33% in type 2 DM vs. 18% in non diabetic, P = 0.013), whereas 11% of both type 2 DM and non diabetics had stenosis of 50-70% (P = NS). Also type 2 DM patients had a higher number of coronary segments with mixed plaques compared to nondiabetic patients (1.67 +/- 2.01 vs. 1.23 +/- 1.61, P = 0.05), whereas no such differences were observed for non-calcified or calcified plaques. Nearly half (43%) of type 2 DM had coronary artery calcium scores (CACS) >or=400 vs. 29% in non diabetic patients (P = 0.03). Patients with type 2 DM tend to have atherosclerotic plaques which are more likely to be mixed in nature. Future studies need to elucidate the prognostic value of differences in plaque characteristics observed according to type 2 diabetic status.

Relations between digital thermal monitoring of vascular function, the Framingham risk score, and coronary artery calcium score.

BACKGROUND: Digital thermal monitoring (DTM) of vascular function was shown to correlate with the presence of known coronary artery disease (CAD). OBJECTIVE: We evaluated whether DTM can identify at-risk, asymptomatic patients with significant coronary artery calcium (CAC) or increased Framingham risk score (FRS). METHODS: Two hundred thirty-three consecutive asymptomatic subjects (58 +/- 11 years; 62% men) without known CAD underwent DTM, CAC, and FRS calculation. DTM measurements were obtained during and after a 5-minute suprasystolic arm-cuff occlusion. After cuff-deflation temperature rebound (TR) and area under the temperature curve (AUC) were measured and correlated with FRS and CAC. RESULTS: TR was lower in patients with FRS > 20% and CAC >or= 100 as compared with FRS < 10% and CAC < 10, respectively (P < 0.05). After adjustment for age, sex, and traditional cardiac risk factors, the odds ratio of the lowest compared with the upper 2 tertiles of TR was 3.96 for FRS >or= 20% and 2.37 for CAC >or= 100 compared with low-risk cohorts. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to predict CAC >or= 100 increased significantly from 0.66 for FRS to 0.79 for TR to 0.89 for TR + FRS. CONCLUSIONS: Vascular dysfunction measured by DTM strongly correlates with FRS and CAC independent of age, sex, and traditional cardiac risk factors and was superior to FRS for the prediction of significant CAC.