Clinical correlation between diabetic and non diabetic patients with myocardial infarction.

We have studied 130 patients with diabetes mellitus and 455 patients without. All the patients were consecutively admitted to our Coronary Care Unit with their first myocardial infarction. We have observed a higher incidence of heart failure, in-hospital mortality, atrial fibrillation, conduction abnormalities, and post-infarction angina among diabetics. Nevertheless, diabetic patients do not show evidence of larger infarcts than those without diabetes. In our patients the higher mortality among diabetics is related to an increased occurrence of left ventricular failure. Moreover, post-infarction ischemic episodes are more common compared with non diabetics. Since infarcts in diabetics do not seem to be more extensive than in non diabetics, we suggest, in accordance with others, that the poorer outcome among diabetic patients with AMI could be related to an underlying cardiac dysfunction of diabetics in addition to coronary artery diseases.