Prognostic Value of Stress Hyperglycemia in Patients Admitted to Medical/Geriatric Departments for Acute Medical Illness.

INTRODUCTION: Hyperglycemia is common in patients admitted to Italian medical/geriatric units and is associated with a poorer outcome. We tested the significance of diabetes and stress-induced hyperglycemia in clinical outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred seventy-eight consecutive patients with hyperglycemia at entry (≥ 126 mg/dl) (206 without known diabetes) were included, with a wide range of underlying diseases requiring hospital admission and independent of the presence of diabetes. Relative hyperglycemia was calculated as admission glucose divided by average glucose, estimated based of glycosylated hemoglobin. Values ≥ 1.20 were considered indicative of stress hyperglycemia (SHR). The association of SHR with outcome variables (all-cause complications, infections, non-infectious events, deaths) was tested by logistic regression analysis, adjusted for sex, BMI, age-adjusted comorbidities (Charlson index) and known diabetes. RESULTS: During hospital stay, one or more events were registered in 96 patients (25.4%); 44 patients died in hospital, and fatality rate was borderline higher in patients without diabetes (14.6% vs. 8.1% in diabetes; P = 0.052) and nearly three times higher in patients with stress hyperglycemia (15.0%) vs. those with SHR < 1.2 (P = 0.005). Stress hyperglycemia-more common in the absence of diabetes (71% vs. 58%)-and age were the only independent prognostic factors for death. At multivariable analysis, the risks of death (OR 4.31, 95% CI 1.25-14.81), of all complications (OR 5.90, 95% CI 2.22-15.71) and of newly developed systemic infections (OR 5.67, 95% CI 1.61-19.92) were associated with stress hyperglycemia in subjects without diabetes, as was the risk in non-insulin-treated cases (OR 4.02, 95% CI 1.16-13.92; OR 5.47, 95% CI 2.21-13.52; OR 5.15, 95% CI 1.70-15.62, respectively). CONCLUSION: The study confirms the prognostic value of stress-related hyperglycemia in patients requiring hospital admission to a geriatric/medical unit for a variety of acute medical conditions, contributing to adverse outcomes not limited to events commonly associated with hyperglycemia (e.g., infections).

Stress Hyperglycemia and Complications Following Traumatic Injuries in Individuals With/Without Diabetes: The Case of Orthopedic Surgery.

PURPOSE: Hyperglycemia in trauma patients may stem from metabolic response to stress, both in the presence and the absence of underlying diabetes. We aimed to test the association of stress hyperglycemia with risks of adverse events subjects undergoing orthopedic surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a prospective observational study, we enrolled 202 consecutive patients with hyperglycemia at hospital admission for trauma injuries requiring orthopedic surgery. Based on history, diabetes was present in 183, and 13 more were defined as unknown diabetes on the basis of HbA1c ≥48mmol/mol. Stress hyperglycemia was defined in subjects with/without diabetes by a stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) >1.14, calculated as admission glucose/average glucose, estimated from glycosylated hemoglobin. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the risk of post-surgery adverse events associated with different states of hyperglycemia, after correction for demographic and clinical confounders. RESULTS: Stress hyperglycemia was diagnosed, either as superimposed to diabetes (54/196 cases, 27.6%) as well as in the 6 cases without diabetes. At least one complication was recorded in 68 cases (33.7%), the most common being systemic infection (22.8% of cases). In the total cohort, stress hyperglycemia, irrespective of the presence of diabetes, increased the risk of adverse events (any events, odds ratio [OR], 4.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.11-9.30), cardiovascular events (OR, 7.09; 95% CI, 2.47-19.91), systemic infections (OR, 4.21; 95% CI, 1.97-9.03) and other adverse events (OR, 6.30; 95% CI, 1.41-28.03), after adjustment for confounders; hospital stay was much longer. The same was true when the analysis was limited to the diabetes cohort or by comparing pure stress hyperglycemia vs diabetes without stress hyperglycemia. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the importance of stress hyperglycemia for adverse events in the setting of orthopedic surgery following trauma injuries. This condition requires stricter management, considering the much longer length of hospital stay and higher costs.

Nurse-managed basal-bolus versus sliding-scale insulin regimen in subjects with hyperglycemia at admission for orthopedic surgery: a propensity score approach.

AIMS: A sliding-scale (SS) regimen is discouraged to correct hyperglycemia in hospital patients, but there is resistance to adoption of basal-bolus (BB) treatment in surgical units. We tested the feasibility and the effects of a nurse-based BB regimen in orthopedic surgery. METHODS: Following an intense training to implement a protocol amenable by nurses, a group of patients admitted with hyperglycemia in an orthopedic institute were prospectively followed according to a basal-bolus insulin regimen (BB, n = 80). They were compared with a hyperglycemic group eventually treated by sliding-scale insulin on demand (SS, n = 122). Diabetes was present in 196 cases. Metabolic control was assessed during the first 3 days of surgery; outcome data were tested by logistic regression, after adjusting for propensity score. RESULT: Average blood glucose and glucose variability were lower in BB versus SS (P < 0.001), in the presence of similar 3-day insulin doses. Complications were recorded in 68 cases (16.2% vs. 45.1% in BB and SS, respectively). BB regimen was associated with propensity-adjusted reduction in all adverse events [odds ratio (OR) 0.36; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.17-0.76] and of systemic infections (OR 0.18; 95% CI 0.07-0.50) and with shorter hospital stay (8.8 ± SD 5.2 days vs. 12.5 ± 7.4; P < 0.01). The superiority of BB regimen was confirmed in the pair-matched analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The study proves the feasibility and the superiority of nurse-based BB versus SS treatment in metabolic control and on the risk of adverse events in orthopedic surgery patients with hyperglycemia.

Managing the combination of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are part of the same metabolic defect, both having insulin resistance as the main pathogenic mechanism and sharing similar outcomes (i.e., cardiovascular and liver-related mortality). The prevalence of NAFLD is expected to rise, owing to the increasing worldwide prevalence of obesity and MetS; therefore, the identification of factors responsible for disease progression is essential to devise therapeutic strategies. AREAS COVERED: The available and potential future treatments for NAFLD in combination with MetS are reviewed in this paper, following an extensive literature search and personal experience. EXPERT OPINION: All NAFLD patients should be evaluated for their metabolic, cardiovascular and liver-related risk. Weight loss through lifestyle intervention remains the most comprehensive and safe treatment of NAFLD and associated MetS; however, > 50% of patients fail to achieve target weight loss. Pharmacologic treatment seems to be important for these patients and for NAFLD cases with more advanced liver disease. It temporarily reverses metabolic alterations, but liver disease progresses after the treatment is stopped. Although current treatments are unsatisfactory, new drugs have been proposed and a few innovative compounds are in the pipeline of pharmaceutical companies. Before pharmacologic treatment can be routinely recommended for NAFLD, long-term randomized trials are needed, along with assessments of the safety and benefits of drugs on proper histological outcomes or validated surrogate markers. The intensive control of individual features of MetS remains mandatory.

Cognitive-behavioral treatment of nonalcoholic Fatty liver disease: a propensity score-adjusted observational study.

The effectiveness of cognitive-behavior treatment (CBT) in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), largely related to overweight/obesity and considered the hepatic expression of the metabolic syndrome (MS), has so far been tested in very limited samples. In a tertiary referral center, consecutively observed NAFLD subjects were offered a CBT program aimed at weight loss and increased physical activity, based on 13 group sessions; 68 cases entered the treatment protocol, those who refused (n = 82) were given recommendations for diet and physical activity. Treatment goals (weight loss ≥7% initial body weight, normalization of liver enzymes, and improved parameters of MS) were tested by logistic regression at 6 months (all cases) and at 2 years, both on intention-to-treat and in completers (Diet, 78; CBT, 65). The results were adjusted for the propensity score of attending the CBT program, based on civil, anthropometric and clinical variables. At baseline the CBT group had a larger prevalence of obesity and more severe insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)). At follow-up, CBT was associated with a higher probability of weight loss and normal liver enzymes (6-month: odds ratio (OR), 2.56; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.15-5.69; 2-year intention-to-treat: OR, 3.57, 95% CI, 1.59-8.00), after adjustment for propensity and changes in body weight. A similar trend was observed in the outcome goals of insulin resistance and the score of MS, which were both reduced. In conclusion, subjects with NAFLD participating in a CBT program significantly improve their general and liver parameters. The beneficial effects are largely maintained at 2-year follow-up, in keeping with the lifestyle-related pathogenesis of disease.

Double heterozygous mutations involving both HNF1A/MODY3 and HNF4A/MODY1 genes: a case report.

OBJECTIVE: We describe a maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) case with mutations involving both HNF4A and HNF1A genes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A male patient was diagnosed with diabetes at age 17; the metabolic control rapidly worsened to insulin requirement. At that time no relatives were known to be affected by diabetes, which was diagnosed years later in both the parents (father at age 50 years, mother at age 54 years) and the sister (at age 32 years, during pregnancy). RESULTS: The genetic screening showed a double heterozygosity for the mutation p.E508K in the HNF1A/MODY3 gene and the novel variant p.R80Q in the HNF4A/MODY1 gene. The genetic testing of the family showed that the father carried the MODY3 mutation while the mother, the sister, and her two children carried the MODY1 mutation. CONCLUSIONS: MODY1 and MODY3 mutations may interact by chance to give a more severe form of diabetes (younger age at presentation and early need of insulin therapy to control hyperglycemia).