Mortality, place and mode of death and reinfarction during a period of 5 years after acute myocardial infarction in diabetic and non-diabetic patients.

We describe the prognosis during a 5-year follow-up of 858 consecutive patients with confirmed acute myocardial infarction (AMI), of which 97 (11%) had a history of diabetes mellitus. Diabetic patients had a 5-year mortality of 72% versus 50% for non-diabetic patients (p < 0.001). In a multivariate analysis considering age, sex, diabetes and a history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes was an independent predictor of death (p < 0.001) together with age (p < 0.001), previous AMI (p < 0.001) and a history of congestive heart failure (p < 0.05). Among diabetic patients, 55% developed a reinfarction versus 22% among non-diabetic patients (p < 0.001). Mode and place of death appeared to be similar in diabetic and non-diabetic patients.