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Hemostasis and Glycemic Control in the Cardiac Surgical PatientDepartment of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1009, tslaught{at}wfubmc.edu The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 6% of the US population meets diagnostic criteria for diabetes mellitus, with at least one third of this group being undiagnosed. A majority of adult blindness, renal insufficiency, and limb amputation may be directly attributed to diabetes. Although the incidence of type 1, autoimmune-mediated diabetes remains relatively stable, increasing age, physical inactivity, and obesity have produced explosive growth in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. A direct association between diabetes and atherothrombotic disease remains indisputable. However, recent data further suggest that even minor elevations of fasting plasma glucose, in "nondiabetic" subjects, increase cardiovascular risk. Alterations in hemostasis may play an important contributory role. Both hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia induce prothrombotic characteristics, including overexpression of vascular endothelial plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), down-regulation of fibrinolysis, elevation of plasma coagulation proteins (ie, fibrinogen, factor VII, factor X), and enhanced platelet activation. Furthermore, endothelial dysfunctioncharacterized by an inflammatory phenotypecommonly accompanies diabetes. Given data supporting prothrombotic potential of both acute and chronic hyperglycemia, aggressive perioperative glucose control appears imperative.
Key Words: diabetes mellitus cardiovascular risk hemostasis perioperative glucose control
Seminars in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia, Vol. 10, No. 2,
176-179 (2006) |
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