Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of acarbose therapy on the long-term prognosis of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) complicating newly diagnosed impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). METHODOLOGY: 135 patients hospitalized for ACS who had been newly diagnosed with IGT were randomly assigned to acarbose group (150 mg/day, n = 67) or control group (no acarbose, n = 68). All cases in each group were given the same elementary treatment. Mean follow-up was 2.3 years. The incidence of major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) and carotid intima-middle thickness (CIMT) were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: During the mean follow-up of 2.3 years, the risk of recurrent MACE in acarbose group was decreased significantly compared with that in control group (26.67% versus 46.88%, P < 0.05); at the same time, thickening of the CIMT was significantly slower than the control group ((1.28 ± 0.42) mm versus (1.51 ± 0.64) mm, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Acarbose can effectively reduce the risk of MACE in ACS patients with newly diagnosed IGT, simultaneously retarding the progression of carotid intima-media thickness.