Vascular Events and Carotid Atherosclerosis: A 5-Year Prospective Cohort Study in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and a Contemporary Cardiovascular Prevention Treatment.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: European recommendations on cardiovascular prevention suggest that carotid atherosclerosis assessment by duplex ultrasonography could help in some cases to better assess CV risk. We investigated whether the presence of carotid atherosclerosis determined by duplex ultrasonography is associated with cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes and could therefore help to reclassify cardiovascular risk. METHODS: Among 624 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes and carotid atherosclerosis assessment by duplex ultrasonography between January and December 2012, 583 (93%) were included and followed up prospectively. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of cardiovascular events. The rate of new cardiovascular events was compared between patients with (n = 104) and those without (n = 479) prior cardiovascular events. RESULTS: A total of new 104 cardiovascular events occurred in 72 patients (12.5%) during a mean ± SD follow-up period of 5.1 ± 1.6 years. At baseline, for 202 patients (34.6%), carotid evaluation was normal; 381 (65.4%) had a carotid atherosclerosis lesion. The presence of carotid atherosclerosis at baseline was not significantly associated with an increased risk of new cardiovascular events in both groups. The rate of new cardiovascular events was more than twice as high in patients with prior cardiovascular event than those without. CONCLUSION: Systematic carotid atherosclerosis assessment by duplex ultrasonography in patients with type 2 diabetes and a contemporary cardiovascular prevention treatment does not offer additional information as to the risk of cardiovascular events. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT02929355).

Usefulness of a systematic screening of carotid atherosclerosis in asymptomatic people with type 2 diabetes for cardiovascular risk reclassification.

AIMS: Routine screening of carotid atherosclerosis lesions is frequently suggested for people with type 2 diabetes, the presence of a carotid lesion being associated with a significant increase risk for vascular events. However, the impact of this strategy on medical management is not validated. We herein question the usefulness of such screening. METHODS: We assessed the prevalence and severity of carotid lesions in 337 consecutive people with type 2 diabetes without known cardiovascular disease who underwent a systematic carotid duplex ultrasonography. We analyzed whether the results of duplex ultrasonography allowed reclassification of cardiovascular risk level relative to the most recent international recommendations on diabetes and modified therapy. RESULTS: We found that 35.9% of people had no atherosclerotic lesion. Prevalence of carotid stenosis<20%, between 20 and 50% and ≥50% were 32.9%, 28.4% and 2.7% respectively. Regarding the use of statins and LDL-C target, the result of carotid duplex ultrasonography allowed to reclassify respectively 11.8% to 55.2% of the cohort in a higher cardiovascular risk level. For the indication of antiplatelet agent, reclassification in a higher risk level concerned 6.8% of the patients. No subject had an indication of carotid revascularization. CONCLUSIONS: Carotid atherosclerosis is frequent in asymptomatic people with type 2 diabetes in primary cardiovascular prevention. Screening for carotid atherosclerosis by duplex ultrasonography seems useful to redefine the level of cardiovascular risk.

Carotid atherosclerosis progression and cerebrovascular events in patients with diabetes.

AIM: Carotid atherosclerosis progression is associated with a higher risk of cerebrovascular events but there is no specific data for diabetes. We assessed in a cohort of patients with diabetes the rate of atherosclerosis progression by Doppler ultrasonography and the association with cerebrovascular events. METHODS: We analyzed a retrospective cohort of 342 patients with a mean duration of diabetes of 13.6 ± 10.6 years. The mean delay between the first and last Doppler ultrasonography was 6.4 ± 4.6 years, with a mean of 3.4 examinations per person. Cerebrovascular events were noted. RESULTS: A progression of carotid atherosclerosis was observed in 20.1% of cases. No factor was significantly associated with progression. A prophylactic carotid endarterectomy was performed on 6 of the 27 patients with a stenosis ≥50%. A cerebrovascular event occurred in 1.2% of patients; none of them had carotid atherosclerosis progression. CONCLUSIONS: Carotid atherosclerosis progression in patients with diabetes is frequent but surgical treatment and cerebrovascular events are low. The benefit of a systematic follow-up of carotid atherosclerosis seems limited.