Long-term prognosis of south Asians following acute coronary syndromes.
BACKGROUND
South Asians (SAs) have a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease than Caucasians. The long-term prognosis following acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in SA compared with non-SA patients is unclear.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the long-term adverse cardiovascular outcomes between SA and non-SA patients who have ACS.


METHODS
A case-control study of 65 consecutive SA patients admitted with ACS to the McGill University Health Centre (Montreal, Quebec) between 1995 and 2000 was conducted. Control subjects included 65 non-SA patients admitted to the same hospital with ACS matched by age, sex and year of hospitalization.


RESULTS
The mean +/- SD age was 59.7+/-9.9 years and 12% of patients were women. There were more cases of diabetes mellitus among the SA patients than non-SA patients (43% versus 23%, respectively). Only 19% of SA patients were active smokers, compared with 34% of non-SA patients. At one year, 35% of SA patients had undergone coronary artery bypass graft surgery, compared with 22% of non-SA patients. One-year mortality was increased among the SA patients compared with the non-SA patients (6% versus 2%, respectively). However, SA ethnicity was not an independent predictor of one-year adverse cardiovascular outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study demonstrated an increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus among the SA patients with ACS compared with non-SA patients. SA patients had increased one-year mortality compared with non-SA patients. However, SA ethnicity was not an independent predictor of one-year mortality and coronary intervention.
Raghavan
Ramya
R
Division of Cardiology, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada.
Rahme
Elham
E
Nedjar
Hacene
H
Huynh
Thao
T
D000208:Acute Disease; D001210:Asia, Southeastern / Q000208:ethnology; D044466:Asian People; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors