Altered fasting glycemia in cardiac patients during in-hospital rehabilitation: impact on short and long-term follow-up

Background and aims: Hospitalized patients after acute cardiovascular events have poorer prognosis if glucose regulation is diagnosed as abnormal. We compared the short and long-term outcome of patients with newly diagnosed altered fasting glycemia (AFG) to that of known diabetic patients and patients with normal glucose regulation (NGR) after admission to cardiac rehabilitation. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 2490 consecutive patients. Three groups were identified: known diabetes mellitus (n = 540, 22%), fasting glycemia above 110 mg/dl (AFG, n = 269, 11%), and fasting glycemia 110 mg/dl or less (NGR, n = 1681, 67%). Clinical variables, complications, and all-cause mortality were evaluated. Results: At follow-up (median 3.1 ± 2.4 years), after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, left ventricular ejection fraction, history of coronary artery disease, AFG had a significantly longer hospital stay versus NGR (21 ± 8 versus 20 ± 8 days; P = 0.019) and higher risk of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (P = 0.041), pleural/pericardial effusions (P 
Source: Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine - Category: Cardiology Tags: Research articles Source Type: research