Evaluation of glucose metabolism profile in coronary disease. Prospective study in hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND: In 1995, it was estimated that 4% of the adult population had a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. The trend is for growing prevalence, with a prediction of 300 million individuals with diabetes diagnosed in 2025. There seems to be a large number of asymptomatic individuals with undiagnosed disorders of glucose metabolism. These disorders, whether diabetes mellitus or conditions considered as prediabetic, including impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose, represent an important risk factor for coronary disease and worsen the prognosis of established disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of glucose metabolism disorders in individuals admitted to hospital with coronary disease and to determine whether a significant number of these patients had previously undiagnosed diabetes or prediabetic conditions. METHODS: We conducted a prospective study of 44 consecutive patients admitted to the Cardiology Department with a diagnosis of coronary disease, whether previously established or established at the time of admission. We measured morning plasma glucose in all patients, after at least eight hours fasting, and all except those with a previous diagnosis of diabetes underwent an oral glucose tolerance test with 75 g of glucose before hospital discharge. For classification of glucometabolic state, we used the values defined by the World Health Organization (1999). RESULTS: The mean age of our cohort was 64.2+/-13.6 years. The most prevalent disorder was diabetes, with 19 patients (43.2%). Of these, 12 patients (27.3%) had a previous diagnosis of diabetes and 7 patients (15.9%) were unaware that they had the disease. We identified isolated impaired glucose tolerance in 11 patients (25%), isolated impaired fasting glucose in one patient (2.3%) and combined impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose in another (2.3%). The remaining 12 patients (27.3%) revealed normal glycemia values. CONCLUSIONS: Glucose metabolism disorders including diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance have a high prevalence in coronary patients. This population includes a significant number of asymptomatic patients with undiagnosed diabetes or undetected prediabetic conditions. A systematic evaluation of the glucometabolic state of individuals with coronary disease during hospitalization, using an oral glucose tolerance test, may enable earlier identification of these disorders and implementation of measures to reduce their future impact.