"In patients without diabetes, being a woman confers a certain advantage in that their risk of death is much lower, regardless of their stress findings," Dr. Skali said. "However, when you look at patients with diabetes, men and women have relatively the same risk of cardiovascular death, and that risk increases with worsening findings on the PET stress test."

The data also revealed that, even when they had normal PET MPI results, people with diabetes had a similar rate of cardiac death to people without diabetes who were 10-15 years older, suggesting that younger diabetic patients may require additional tools for risk stratification.


"Stress Myocardial Perfusion PET Provides Incremental Risk Prediction in Patients with and Patients without Diabetes." Collaborating with Dr. Skali were Marcelo F. Di Carli, M.D., Ron Blankstein, M.D., Benjamin J. Chow, M.D., Rob S. Beanlands, M.D., Daniel S. Berman, M.D., Guido Germano, Ph.D., James K. Min, M.D., Michael Merhige, M.D., Brent Williams, Ph.D., Emir Veledar, Ph.D., Leslee J. Shaw, Ph.D., and Sharmila Dorbala M.D., M.P.H.

Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging is edited by Suhny Abbara, M.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and owned and published by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc.

RSNA is an association of over 53,400 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists, promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill.

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