Diabetics at greater risk of cardiac death after a heart attack

Fri, 08 Oct 2010
A new study has found that patients suffering from type 2 diabetes are at a higher risk of sudden cardiac death following a heart attack than non-diabetics. The research, published in the journal HeartRhythm, monitored a group of over 3,000 patients enrolled into the study at the time of acute myocardial infraction (MI) between 1996 and 2005, with diabetes being present in 19.2 per cent of the patients.

It was discovered that sudden cardiac death (SCD) occurred in 5.9 per cent of the diabetes patients, compared with 1.7 per cent of the non-diabetic patient subgroup, while the cumulative mortality rate for all causes among the diabetic population was 21 per cent compared to 8.4 per cent among the non-diabetic population.

After adjustments for factors such as gender and age, it was revealed that type 2 diabetes was an independent predictor of sudden cardiac death .

Juhani Junttila,, lead author of the study, said "A striking result from our study is the observance of equivalent SCD risk between diabetic patients with ejection fraction >35% and nondiabetic patients with ejection fraction <35%. These observances may have implications for the interpretation of evidence-based criteria for ICD therapy after MI, but further studies are needed to determine whether type 2 diabetic patients who have had an MI would benefit from modifications of ICD guidelines."

Figures from the Heart Rhythm Society show that over 250,000 people die every year due to sudden cardiac arrest .

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