Project Title

Cardiovascular risk in prediabetes patients with and without coronary artery disease - studies from the Western Denmark Heart Registry

Background

As the prevalence of diabetes increases so does the burden cardiovascular disease associated with diabetes. Patients with glycemic levels just below the diagnostic threshold of diabetes have a higher risk of developing premature cardiovascular disease. International guidelines do not recommend any specific preventive measures in reducing cardiovascular risk in these patients. Presence and extent of coronary artery disease may be useful in identifying high-risk prediabetic patients who may benefit from prophylactic risk management.

Aim

The aim of this project is to examine the cardiovascular risk associated with prediabetes in patients undergoing coronary imaging (invasive coronary angiography and coronary computed tomography angiography) compared to an age- and sex-matched sample from the general population.

Methods

This is a registry-based, semi-national, observational, retrospective cohort study. Data from the Western Denmark Heart Registry will be the foundation of the project. Patients will be classified as either normoglycemic, pre-diabetic, or diabetic according to periprocedural hemoglobin A1c measurements. Patients will also be classified according to presence and extent of coronary artery disease. Clinical outcomes after index-examination will be detected through the Danish National Patient Registry, the Danish National Cause of Death Registry, and the Civil Registration System.

Each patient will be matched in a 1:5 ratio with healthy individuals of same age and sex with no previous history of ischemic heart disease.