[Diabetes, prediabetes and cardiovascular risk].

Cardiovascular diseases continue to be the mainstay in morbidity and mortality in modern society with diabetes mellitus being a known risk factor for coronary artery disease, heart failure and vascular events. Most patients present with a combination of hypertension, dyslipoproteinaemia and (pre)diabetic metabolism potentiating the risk. From the perspective of organ damage two of three patients with coronary artery disease present with impaired glucose metabolism. In case of myocardial infarction 25-28% of patients do not present with impaired glucose metabolism. Women are more often affected than men and exhibit a more severe outcome, if diagnoses of vascular events and diabetes occur in parallel. Atrial fibrillation and heart failure are significantly associated with diabetes and significantly confer to the overall prognosis. Epidemiologically, the risk for vascular events is closely associated with the glucose burden of the affected patient.