Objective: To determine the differences in the inflammatory status between diabetic and non-diabetic patients and to evaluate the usefulness of C reactive protein, fibrinogen, and leucocyte count as predictors of death in diabetic patients with unstable coronary disease.Design: Nested case-control comparisons of the inflammatory status between diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Prospective cohort analysis of C reactive protein concentration, fibrinogen concentration, and leucocyte count as predictors of cardiovascular death in diabetic patients.Setting: Coronary care unit in Spain.Participants: 83 diabetic patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome and 83 sex and aged matched patients selected from 361 non-diabetic patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome.Main outcome measures: Plasma concentrations of C reactive protein and fibrinogen, and leucocyte count. Investigators contacted patients to assess clinical events.Results: Concentrations of C reactive protein and fibrinogen, and leucocyte count on admission were higher in diabetic than in non-diabetic patients (7 mg/l v 5 mg/l, p = 0.020; 3.34 g/l v 2.90 g/l, p = 0.013; and 8.8 × 109/l v 7.8 × 109/l, p = 0.040). Among diabetic patients, these values were also higher in those who died during the 22 month follow up (13 mg/l v 6 mg/l, p = 0.001; 3.95 g/l v 3.05 g/l, p < 0.001; and 11.4 × 109/l v 8.4 × 109/l, p = 0.005). After adjustment for confounding factors, diabetic patients in the highest tertile of C reactive protein had a hazard ratio for cardiovascular death of 4.51 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.62 to 12.55). Similar hazard ratios were for fibrinogen 3.74 (95% CI 1.32 to 10.62) and for leucocyte count 3.64 (95% CI 1.37 to 9.68).Conclusions: Inflammation appears more evident in diabetic than in non-diabetic patients with acute coronary syndrome. C reactive protein concentration, fibrinogen concentration, and leucocyte count constitute independent predictors of cardiovascular death in diabetics with unstable coronary disease.
Prognostic relations between inflammatory markers and mortality in diabetic patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome
