Frequency of metabolic syndrome in patients with ischaemic heart disease.

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of metabolic syndrome in patients with Ischaemic Heart Disease.

Methods: This was a cross sectional observational study. Patients with a first time cardiac event arriving in emergency room during the period October 2009 to April 2010, were included. Five components of Metabolic syndrome were defined according to criteria set by International Diabetes Federation, American Heart Association & National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute which had abdominal obesity (waist circumference) as an integral part of the syndrome. Blood sugar, triglycerides, HDL-C were measured within 24 hrs of cardiac insult. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure > 130/85 mmHg. Variables were integrated for descriptive statistics.

Results: A total of 477 patients diagnosed with Ischaemic Heart Disease were inducted in the study. There were 355 (74%) males and 122 (26%) females. Frequency of metabolic syndrome in Ischaemic heart disease was seen in 195 (54.95%) males and 96 (78.7%) females (p < 0.001). According to recent criteria abdominal obesity was observed in 91 (81.1%) females as compared to males 219 (61.7%) (p < 0.001) Similarly, low HDL and Hypertension were high in frequency in females. No significant difference in triglycerides levels was found in either gender.

Conclusion: Frequency of metabolic syndrome with Ischaemic heart disease was high in females as compared to males. This could be attributed to the increased prevalence of abdominal obesity.