Association between the metabolic syndrome and newly diagnosed coronary artery disease.

This case-control study was designed to outline age- and gender-related differences of metabolic risk factors in a group of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Accordingly, a total of 366 consecutive patients with a recent diagnosis of CAD (139 women, 41-79 yr; 227 men, 39-78 yr) were screened between October 1999 and April 2001 at Baskent University Adana Medical Center, and 366 age- and gender-matched individuals were selected as a control group. We compared demographics, blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, lipid profile, fasting and post-prandial glucose-insulin levels between CAD patients and the control group. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 72.6% in females, and 39.0% in males with CAD. Hypertension, obesity and diabetes were more common in female patients; 64.5% of female patients had premature CAD and 83.5% of those had metabolic syndrome. In logistic (OR: 3.57 for women and OR: 1.59 for men) regression analysis, metabolic syndrome was independently associated with CAD in both genders. As a conclusion, prevalence of metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in patients with CAD than the control group, especially in female patients. The metabolic syndrome was independently associated with CAD in both genders.