Incidence and Prevalence of Unrecognized Myocardial Infarction in People With Diabetes

Abstract

OBJECTIVETo examine the prevalence and incidence of unrecognized myocardial infarction in a contemporary population with type 2 diabetes.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe performed a retrospective analysis of the electrocardiograms (ECGs) recorded at baseline and after 2 years for the first 1,004 type 2 diabetic individuals to be randomized in the Rosiglitazone Evaluated for Cardiac Outcomes and Regulation of Glycemia in Diabetes (RECORD) study.RESULTSECGs suitable for analysis were obtained from 669 participants. The prevalence of unrecognized Q-wave myocardial infarction at baseline was 1.9% (n = 13). The incidence of unrecognized Q-wave myocardial infarction at the end of 2 years of follow-up was 1.5/1,000-person-years (n = 2). One-third (13 of 39) of prevalent and one-quarter (2 of 8) of incident myocardial infarctions were unrecognized.CONCLUSIONSAlthough the prevalence and incidence of myocardial infarction was low, unrecognized Q-wave myocardial infarctions made up a substantial proportion of all events.