Pandey NK, Karki P, Dhungana S, Sherpa K
ABSTRACT
Background: Metabolic syndrome is one of the major public health issues of this century. During the last decade, it has been shown that the metabolic syndrome and its various components increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components in patients with acute coronary syndrome admitted at a tertiary care center in Nepal.
Methods: This was a hospital based study in which consecutive 323 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were reviewed and the presence or absence of the metabolic syndrome and its components determined by applying modified NCEP-ATPIII criteria. Data was analyzed by using the Student t test and Chi-square test.
Results: Among 323 patients with ACS, 219 (67.8%) were males and 104 (32.19%) were females. Out of them 193 (59.7%) patients fulfilled criteria of metabolic syndrome and rest 130 (40.3%) did not. All of the components of metabolic syndrome were significantly more in ACS patients with metabolic syndrome than in patients without metabolic syndrome (p <0.001).The commonest component in ACS patients with or without metabolic syndrome was impaired blood sugar.
Conclusion: In ACS patients’ metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent. Impaired blood sugar, reduced HDLc and hypertension were the most frequent metabolic components in ACS patients with metabolic syndrome. These findings show that drug therapy alone may not be fully effective unless risk factors causing metabolic syndrome are also addressed.
Keywords- metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, blood sugar and hypertension