RESUMO
AIM: The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between acute hyperglycaemia and in-hospital mortality in black Africans with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). METHODS: From January 2002 to December 2017, 1 168 patients aged ≥ 18 years old, including 332 patients with diabetes (28.4%), consecutively presented to the intensive care unit of the Abidjan Heart Institute for ACS. Baseline data and outcomes were compared in patients with and without hyperglycaemia at admission (> 140 mg/dl; 7.8 mmol/l). Predictors for death were determined by multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of admission hyperglycaemia was 40.6%. It was higher in patients with diabetes (55.3%). In multivariate logistic regression, acute hyperglycaemia (hazard ratio = 2.33; 1.44-3.77; p < 0.001), heart failure (HR = 2.22; 1.38-3.56; p = 0.001), reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HR = 6.41; 3.72-11.03; p < 0.001, sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation (HR = 3.43; 1.37-8.62; p = 0.008) and cardiogenic shock (HR = 8.82; 4.38-17.76; p < 0.001) were predictive factors associated with in-hospital death. In sub-group analysis according to the history of diabetes, hyperglycaemia at admission was a predictor for death only in patients without diabetes (HR = 3.12; 1.72-5.68; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In ACS patients and particularly those without a history of diabetes, admission acute hyperglycaemia was a potentially threatening condition. Appropriate management, follow up and screening for glucose metabolism disorders should be implemented in these patients.