We aimed to investigate the impact of diabetes duration and carotid artery stenosis (CAS) on the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) without clinical cardiovascular disease. A total of 2006 patients with T2DM, without clinical cardiovascular disease, aged >50 years, and who underwent baseline carotid Doppler ultrasound screening with regular follow-ups at the outpatient clinic of our diabetes center, were stratified into four subgroups according to diabetes duration and CAS degree. The primary outcomes included the occurrence of MACE, defined as fatal or nonfatal stroke and myocardial infarction, and all-cause mortality. The difference in the MACE incidence was significantly greater in patients with a longer diabetes duration (≥10 years) and significant CAS (50–69% luminal narrowing) (p < 0.001). Analysis of individual MACE components indicated a trend towards an increased incidence of stroke (p < 0.001), parallel to a longer diabetes duration and significant CAS. In contrast, the risk of myocardial infarction was significantly higher in patients with a diabetes duration <10 years and significant CAS (p = 0.039). Multivariate regression analysis showed that patients with both a longer diabetes duration and significant CAS demonstrated additive and very high risks of MACE (hazard ratio [HR], 2.07; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–3.66; p = 0.012) and stroke (HR, 3.38; 95% CI 1.54–7.44; p = 0.002). The risk of MACE is significantly greater in patients with T2DM, without clinical cardiovascular disease, who have both a longer diabetes duration and significant CAS, compared with those who have a shorter duration and/or nonsignificant CAS.

18F-GP1 is a novel positron emission tomography (PET) tracer that targets glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptors on activated platelets. The study objective was to explore the feasibility of directly imaging acute arterial thrombosis (AAT) with 18F-GP1 PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) and to quantitatively assess 18F-GP1 uptake. Safety, biodistribution, pharmacokinetics and metabolism were also evaluated. Adult patients who had signs or symptoms of AAT or had recently undergone arterial intervention or surgery within 14 days prior to 18F-GP1 PET/CT were eligible for inclusion. The AAT focus was demonstrated by conventional imaging within the 5 days prior to 18F-GP1 administration. Whole-body dynamic 18F-GP1 PET/CT images were acquired for up to 140 min after injection of 250 MBq of 18F-GP1. Venous plasma samples were analysed to determine 18F-GP1 clearance and metabolite formation. Among the ten eligible patients assessed, underlying diseases were abdominal aortic aneurysm with endovascular repair (n = 6), bypass surgery and stent placement (n = 1), endarterectomy (n = 1), arterial dissection (n = 1) and acute cerebral infarction (n = 1). 18F-GP1 administration and PET/CT procedures were well tolerated, with no drug-related adverse events. All patients showed high initial 18F-GP1 uptake in the spleen, kidney and blood pool, followed by rapid clearance. Unmetabolised plasma 18F-GP1 levels peaked at 4 min post-injection and decreased over time until 120 min. The overall image quality was sufficient for diagnosis in all patients and AAT foci were detected in all participants. The 18F-GP1 uptake in AAT foci remained constant from 7 min after injection and began to separate from the blood pool after 20 min. The median standardised uptake value of AAT was 5.0 (range 2.4–7.9) at 120 min post-injection. The median ratio of standardised uptake value of AAT foci to the mean blood pool activity was 3.4 (range 2.0–6.3) at 120 min. 18F-GP1 is a safe and promising novel PET tracer for imaging AAT with a favourable biodistribution and pharmacokinetic profile. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02864810 , Registered August 3, 2016.