Patients with heart failure (HF) who develop new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have an almost three-fold increased risk of HF hospitalization (HFH) or death – a risk even higher than that associated with prevalent T2DM – data from Danish nationwide registers have shown.

Among 139,264 HF patients included between 1998 and 2016, 8 percent developed new-onset T2DM. The median time between diagnosis of HF and T2DM was 4.1 years. [Zareini B, et al, ESC 2020]

The 5-year risk ratio of experiencing HFH or event-free death (not related to HFH or an ischaemic event) vs an ischaemic event was 2.9 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 2.8 to 3.1) for patients with new-onset T2DM, 2.0 (95 percent CI, 2.0 to 2.1) for those with prevalent T2DM, and 2.6 (95 percent CI, 2.6 to 2.7) for those with no T2DM.

The absolute 5-year risk of HFH was 31.5 percent for patients with new-onset T2DM, 33.6 percent for those with prevalent T2DM, and 30.7 percent for those with no T2DM. Absolute 5-year risks of event-free death and an ischaemic event were 20.9 percent vs 18.9 percent vs 18.6 percent and 17.9 percent vs 26.1 percent vs 18.8 percent, respectively.