Background: Patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who have diabetes have an increased risk of death. In nondiabetic patients, admission glucose levels may be a predictor of survival. However, data regarding admission glucose and long-term outcome in nondiabetic patients treated with reperfusion therapy for AMI are limited.
Methods: We investigated long-term clinical outcome in 356 consecutive nondiabetic patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention or thrombolysis as reperfusion therapy. Mean follow-up time was 8 +/- 2 years. The patients were divided on the basis of admission glucose level: group 1, <7.8 mmol/L; group 2, 7.8 to 11.0 mmol/L; and group 3, > or =11.1 mmol/L.
Results: Mortality rate in group 1 (n = 163) was 19.0%; in group 2 (n = 151), 26.5%; and in group 3 (n = 42), 35.7% (P <.05). Higher glucose levels were associated with larger enzymatic infarct sizes (P <.01) and more reduced residual left ventricular function (P <.05). Multivariate analysis showed that Killip class >1 at admission (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.7 to 5.0; P <.001), age > or =60 years (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.5 to 4.0, P =.001), thrombolysis as compared with percutaneous coronary intervention (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.7, P =.02), admission glucose category (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.0 to 1.9, P =.04), and anterior location (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.0 to 2.6, 0.03) were independent predictors of long-term clinical outcome.
Conclusions: Elevated admission glucose levels in nondiabetic patients treated with reperfusion therapy for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction are independently associated with larger infarct size and higher long-term mortality rates.