Hyperglycemia Raises Risk of Death in AF Patients
Moderate to severe hyperglycemia is associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with and without diabetes who are hospitalized for atrial fibrillation (AF), according to a recent study.
For their study, the researchers assessed 1127 adult patients hospitalized for AF between 2011 and 2013, of whom 331 had diabetes. Patients’ median age was 75 years, and 45% of patients were men. All patients included in the study had 12-month data from electronic records available for analysis.
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Patients were categorized according to admission blood glucose (ABG) level: 70 to 110 mg/dL (normal), 111 to 140 mg/dL (mildly elevated), 141 to 199 mg/dL (moderately elevated), and 200 mg/dL or higher (markedly elevated). Overall survival among each ABG category was assessed using a Cox proportional hazards model and was adjusted for study variables. The primary outcome was mortality at the end of follow-up.
Following adjustment for age; sex; Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age, Diabetes, prior Stroke 2 (CHADS2) score; ischemic heart disease; smoking; and alcohol consumption, results indicated that the adjusted hazard ratio for mortality was higher in patients with moderately elevated ABG (2.1) and markedly elevated ABG (1.6), vs patients with normal ABG. Mortality rates were 19% (77 of 407) in patients with normal ABG, 26% (92 of 353) in those with mildly elevated ABG, 28% (69 of 244) in those with moderately elevated ABG, and 41% (50 of 123) in those with markedly elevated ABG.
“In patients with and without [diabetes mellitus] hospitalized for AF, moderately to markedly elevated ABG levels are associated with increased mortality,” the researchers concluded.
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
Akirov A, Grossman A, Shochat T, Shimon I. Hyperglycemia on admission and hospitalization outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation [Published online September 12, 2017]. Clin Cardiol. doi:10.1002/clc.22801.