Hyperglycemia may increase myocardial infarction mortality

(HealthDay)—Hyperglycemia is common among patients presenting with myocardial infarction and is associated with a higher risk of death, according to a study published in the Nov. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

Jaap W. Deckers, M.D., Ph.D., from Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues analyzed mortality based on glucose levels among 11,324 consecutive patients with myocardial infarction admitted to their institution's intensive coronary care unit from 1985 to 2008.

The researchers found that the prevalence of hyperglycemia increased from 26 percent (1985 to 1990) to 49 percent (2000 to 2008), primarily among patients without diabetes. Mortality was highest among patients with severe hyperglycemia compared with normal glycemia, both at 30 days (adjusted odds ratio, 3.6) and at 20 years (adjusted odds ratio, 1.6). Hyperglycemia was a better predictor of 30-day mortality than diabetes.

"In conclusion, elevated admission glucose levels are common in patients with myocardial infarction and are strongly associated with increased mortality," Deckers and colleagues write.