Dobutamine stress echocardiography in diabetes

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with diabetes so prompt diagnosis and treatment of high-risk groups is essential. Dobutamine stress echocardiography is a safe, cheap and reliable method for coronary artery disease diagnosis and provides important long-term prognostic information. The diagnostic accuracy and prognostic predictive power of this technique have been validated by a number of studies on patients with and without diabetes. This article discusses the place of dobutamine stress echocardiography in current cardiology practice and, in particular, its role in the cardiovascular risk stratification of patients with diabetes.