Background: Diabetes is diagnosed in 10-20% of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) not known to be diabetics. Elevated blood glucose is an independent risk factor for cardiac events, regardless of presence of diabetes.
Aim: Evaluating the prevalence of new-diagnosed DM among patients with ACS, and assessing the relationship between stress glycaemia and new diagnosed DM with in-hospital cardiac events.
Methods: Prospective observational study, in patients with ACS, in whom we analyzed parameters of glycemic metabolism, clinical data, and in-hospital cardiac events. We comparatively analyzed patients according to the HgbA1C and known DM in five groups: non-DM (< 5.6%), new pre-DM (5.6-6.5%), new DM (≥ 6.5%), controlled (<7%) and uncontrolled (≥7%) known DM.
Results: 150 patients, (93 male and 57 female) were included. Impaired glucose metabolism was detected in 44.5% of patients, 7.9% of whom were newly-diagnosed DM. The highest levels of stress glycaemia were found in new and uncontrolled known DM. The in-hospital event rate was 20.7%, the mortality rate 7.3%, being the highest in new diagnosed and uncontrolled known DM patients.
Conclusions: The prevalence of unknown DM was high among patients with ACS. Stress glycaemia and failure to achieve glycemic controlee, were an independent predictors of in-hospital cardiac events.
Keywords: acute coronary syndrome; cardiac events; diabetes mellitus; hemoglobin A1C; stress glycaemya.