NEW ORLEANS — Metabolic syndrome raises the risk of adverse outcomes following percutaneous intervention, Vidyasagar Kalahasti, M.D., reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association.
This new finding is consistent with previous reports saying that patients with metabolic syndrome also have increased mortality after coronary artery bypass surgery, noted Dr. Kalahasti, a cardiology fellow at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
His study was a retrospective chart review including 2,382 patients who underwent percutaneous intervention (PCI) at the Cleveland Clinic. The patients were categorized into five groups based upon how many of four metabolic syndrome components, or risk factors, they had. For the purposes of the study, these four components were dyslipidemia, obesity, any history of hypertension, and any history of diabetes.
During a median 8-month follow-up after PCI, the study group experienced 209 deaths and a total of 951 major adverse events, defined as MI, repeat revascularization, or death. The risk of a major adverse event showed a strong graded relationship with the number of metabolic syndrome components present.
Among the 781 patients who had just one metabolic syndrome component, the risk of a major adverse event during follow-up was 35% greater than in the 253 patients with no components of metabolic syndrome. The 715 patients with two metabolic syndrome components had a 42% increased relative risk.
Among the 467 patients with three metabolic syndrome components, the relative risk of a major adverse event was 66% greater than in those with none. And the 166 patients who had all four metabolic syndrome components had a 76% increase in risk.
These findings underscore the importance of aggressively identifying and treating patients with metabolic syndrome, Dr. Kalahasti said.