Acute Coronary Syndrome in Diabetic Patients

Adult patients (≥ 18 years of age) with acute coronary syndrome which are diagnosed under International Classification of Disease (ICD-10) coding of I24.9 were included in this study. The inclusion criteria are patients with primary diagnosis of I24.9 and with a complete record of prior medical and treatment history, electrocardiographic findings, cardiac marker results and outcomes. Participants were grouped into 2 groups - diabetic and non-diabetic based on history of diabetes prior to ACS. Diagnosis of ACS was made based on clinical, electrocardiographic and cardiac marker findings found in the medical record.

Data such as age, sex, ethnic, education, prior medical and treatment history, electrocardiographic and cardiac enzyme results as well as outcomes were collected from the patients' medical records. Outcomes of interest were defined as either concomitant heart failure, acute lung edema, malignant arrhythmia, mortality or combinations of them as diagnosed in the medical records. Heart failure is defined based on echocardiographic findings from the medical records. Acute Lung Edema is defined based on medical records or reported clinical findings of lung edema - rhonchi reported in 1/3 of the lungs with oxygen saturation <90%. Whereas malignant arrhythmia is defined as the presence of ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF).