ABSTRACT
To detect silent myocardial ischemia [SMI] in asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients with or without microalbuminuria, and the importance of microalbuminuria as a predictor for diabetic cardiovascular complications. Sixty asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes were included in this study. Thirty [17 males, 13 females] with mean age of 54 +/- 8.3 years had microalbuminuria [Group-I] were compared with another thirty [21 males and 9 females] with a mean age of [52 +/- 7.8 years] who had normoalbuminuria [Group-II]. A maximum symptom-limited treadmill exercise test was used to detect silent ischemia. In Group-I, 9 patients [30%] had SMI, with 6 patients showing SMI at higher work load and 3 at low work load. In Group-II, 2 patients [6.6%] showed SMI, one at high load and another at low load. The prevalence of SMI in asymptomatic microalbuminuric and normalbuminuric type 2 diabetic patients were 30% and 6.6% respectively. Even with a maximum exercise, myocardial ischemia might be completely asymptomatic in type 2 diabetic patients