Abstract:Objective:To analyze the association of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) with the clinical and coronary angiographic features of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients aged over 70 years old. Methods: A total of 310 elderly patients with coronary angiographconfirmed coronary diseases, who were treated in Changhai Hospital during Apr. 2006 to Jul. 2008, were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were further divided into 2 subgroups according to the presence of DM: DMCHD group (n=155) and nonDMCHD group (n=155). The age, gender, blood pressure, blood lipid, ejection fraction (EF), the angiographic outcomes, etc. were analyzed and compared between the two groups.Results: The incidence of hypertension was significantly higher in the DMCHD group than in the nonDMCHD group (P<0.05). The fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC), and fibrinogen (FIB) were significantly higher than those in the other group (P<0.01), and the high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDLC) was lower than that in the other group (P<0.05).The EF value in the DMCHD group was significantly lower than that in the nonDMCHD group (P<0.01). Among the 35 (22%) patients preliminarily diagnosed as having DM, 14 (40%) would be misdiagnosed if the diagnosis depends solely on FBG without oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The prevalence of diffusive coronary lesions in the DMCHD group was significantly higher than that in the nonDM group (P<0.01). DMCHD group also had significantly higher coronary stenosis index (P<0.01) and more occlusive vessels than nonDMCHD group. Conclusion: The missed diagnosis rate of DM is high in CHD patients. Compared with nonDMCHD patients, DMCHD patients are at higher risks for coronary disease and have more severe coronary lesions.