The triglyceride-glucose index as a new predictor of coronary artery complexity in elderly patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) has a significant impact on cardiovascular mortality in elderly patients. Identification of high-risk patients is essential to optimize clinical management. This study investigates the relationship between the TyG index and CAD complexity, as measured by the SYNTAX score, in elderly patients with NSTE-ACS.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 216 patients aged >65 years undergoing coronary angiography stratified according to tertiles of the TyG index and the SYNTAX score (SYNTAX score ≤ 22 versus SYNTAX score > 22).

RESULTS: After adjustment for confounders, the TyG index was identified as an independent predictor of moderate/high scores (SYNTAX score > 22). As a continuous variable, it was significantly associated with moderate/high SYNTAX scores in both diabetic ( P  = 0.003) and nondiabetic groups ( P  = 0.004). When presented as a categorical variable, the TyG index remained a significant predictor after adjustment for sex, hypertension, BMI, and glomerular filtration rate. Compared with the T1 group, the risk of a moderate/high SYNTAX score was 5.410-fold (95% CI: 1.034-28.315; P  = 0.046) and 7.774-fold (95% CI: 1.836-32.916; P  = 0.005) higher in the T2 and T3 groups, respectively. The TyG index showed superior predictive ability for CAD complexity with an AUC of 0.747 compared with the AUC of 0.624 for HbA1c ( P  = 0.005).

CONCLUSION: This study showed that the TyG index is an independent predictor of moderate/high SYNTAX scores in elderly patients with NSTE-ACS, demonstrating superior predictive performance compared to HgA1c and highlighting its potential as a valuable tool for assessing CAD severity in this population.