Clinical features and prognosis of patients with and without diabetes mellitus undergoing endovascular aortic aneurysm repair

Background This study aimed to compare the clinical features and prognoses of patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM) who underwent endovascular repair for aortic aneurysm (AA). Methods We analyzed the clinical database of a prospective multicenter study, registering 929 patients who underwent their first endovascular AA repair in Japan between January 2016 and June 2018. The baseline characteristics and prognoses (including all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events) after repair were compared between the DM and non-DM groups. Prognoses were also compared between the groups after propensity score matching. Results In total, 226 patients (24.3%) had DM. Compared with non-DM patients, DM patients had higher pack-years of smoking ( P = 0.011), higher body mass index ( P = 0.009), lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels ( P = 0.038), higher triglyceride levels ( P = 0.025), and lower left ventricular ejection fraction ( P = 0.005). Meanwhile, the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and blood pressure levels showed no significant intergroup difference (all P > 0.05). DM patients had a higher prevalence of myocardial infarction ( P = 0.016), history of coronary revascularization ( P = 0.015), and lower extremity artery disease ( P = 0.019). Lesion characteristics and procedures were similar between the groups (all P > 0.05). DM patients had a higher risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events than non-DM patients (both P < 0.001). Subsequent propensity score matching also demonstrated that DM patients had a significantly lower rate of overall survival ( P = 0.001) and freedom from cardiovascular events ( P = 0.010). The Kaplan–Meier estimates at 1 year for the overall survival were 85.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 80.9% to 90.5%) and 94.3% (95% CI, 91.7% to 97.0%) for patients with and without DM, respectively. The corresponding estimates for freedom from cardiovascular events were 79.8% (95% CI, 74.5% to 85.5%) and 87.7% (95% CI, 84.2% to 91.3%), respectively. Conclusions Among patients undergoing endovascular AA repair, those with DM had more cardiovascular risk factors. DM patients had a higher incidence rate of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events. Matching analysis indicated that DM per se would be a risk factor for poor prognoses after AA repair.