risk stratification of diabetic patients with unusual cardiac symptoms using a myocardial perfusion scan

Background: autonomic nervous system dysfunction in diabetic patients can result in an atypical presentation of cardiovascular disease that can be missed. we aimed to use single-photon emission computed tomography (spect) to assess cardiovascular disease (cad) in diabetic patients with atypical pain to determine whether the pain above reflects the cad. methods: diabetic patients with atypical cardiac symptoms were referred to the spect department. demographic data such as age, gender, diabetes status, and other underlying diseases were gathered. a myocardial perfusion scan was then performed. the results were recorded to evaluate the risk of myocardial ischemia and the degree of coronary artery involvement in a non-invasive manner. results: the study included 222 (177 female) subjects with mean ages of 63.01±11.62 and 59.41±9.19 in positive and negative spect, respectively. the most common symptoms were atypical chest pain (51.8%), followed by shortness of breath (50.5%), nausea, and syncope (0.9%). cardiac parameters, such as the summed stress score (sss), summed rest score (srs), total perfusion deficit in stress (tpd-s), total perfusion deficit in rest (tpd-r), were significantly higher in the group with coronary artery involvement (p<0.001). however, ejection fraction (ef), end-diastolic volume (edv), and end-systolic volumes (esv) parameters were not (p=.0.328, 0.351, and 0.443, respectively).conclusions: the mere presence of diabetes does not necessitate any additional diagnostic tests beyond those required for the general population, and it is possible to follow a diagnostic course similar to that of the general population.