Asymptomatic coronary artery disease: angiography in diabetic patients before renal transplantation. Relation of findings to postoperative survival.

Twenty-one juvenile-onset diabetic patients with azotemic nephropathy underwent coronary angiography and left ventriculography before renal transplantation or chronic hemodialysis. Two-year survival of 12 patients with no coronary artery disease (group A) was 88% compared to 22% for nine patients with coronary artery disease (group B) (P less than 0.025). Each group A patient underwent renal transplantation (nine live-related, three cadaveric). Four group B patients received cadaveric allografts. Among group A patients two cadaveric allografts functioned while in group B patients no allografts were successful. In the absence of coronary artery disease, results were similar to those reported for nondiabetic persons. In the presence of coronary artery disease, 62% of the deaths were due to myocardial infarction or sudden death. These results indicate that atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is a major determinant of survival in diabetic patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis or renal transplantation.