Acute hyperglycemia, a rabble-rouser or innocent bystander? A prospective analysis of clinical implications of acute hyperglycemia in STE-ACS patients

BACKGROUND: Acute hyperglycemia is considered an independent prognosticator of both in-hospital and long-term outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This study aimed To analyze the incidence of acute hyperglycemia and its impact on the adverse in-hospital outcome in patients with STE-ACS undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: In this study, we enrolled patients presenting with STE-ACS and undergoing primary PCI at a tertiary care cardiac center. Acute hyperglycemia was defined as random plasma glucose (RBS) > 200 mg/dl at the time of presentation to the emergency room. RESULTS: Of the 4470 patients, 78.8% were males, and the mean age was 55.52 ± 11 years. In total, 39.4% (1759) were found to have acute hyperglycemia, and of these, 59% (1037) were already diagnosed with diabetes. Patients with acute hyperglycemia were observed to have a higher incidence of heart failure (8.2% vs. 5.5%; p < 0.001), contrast-induced nephropathy (10.9% vs. 7.4%; p < 0.001), and in-hospital mortality (5.7% vs. 2.5%; p < 0.001). On multivariable analysis, acute hyperglycemia was found to be an independent predictor of mortality with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.81 [1.28–2.55]. Multi-vessel disease (1.73 [1.17–2.56]), pre-procedure left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) (1.02 [1.0-1.03]), and Killip class III/IV (4.55 [3.09–6.71]) were found to be the additional independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Acute hyperglycemia, regardless of diabetic status, is an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality among patients with STE-ACS undergoing primary PCI. Acute hyperglycemia, along with other significant predictors such as multi-vessel involvement, LVEDP, and Killip class III/IV, can be considered for the risk stratification of these patients.