predictive power of glycated hemoglobin in detecting severity of coronary artery disease in non-diabetic patients: a cross-sectional study in southern iran

Background: the relationship between hemoglobin a1c (hba1c) levels and coronary artery disease (cad) severity is still a matter of debate in non-diabetic patients. this study aimed to determine the association between hba1c and the severity of cad in non-diabetic patients.methods: the present cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018-2019 on 133 non-diabetic patients with stable angina, unstable angina, or myocardial infarction (mi). they were selected through systematic random sampling. the data were collected by taking a complete medical history, calculating the syntax score, and measuring hba1c. results: a syntax score of >22 was significantly correlated with age, left ventricular ejection fraction, hba1c, and total cholesterol. the mean syntax score was higher in male patients, those with hba1c >5.6, and patients with a primary clinical presentation of mi. the association between the syntax score and hba1c was found to be statistically significant (r = 0.659; p < .001). the odds of having a syntax score of >22 for those with hba1c >5.6 was 5.48 times higher than for those with hba1c ≤ 5.6 (odds ratio [or], 5.48; p < .001). the odds of three-vessel disease in individuals with an hba1c level greater than 5.6 were found to be 4.80 times higher than in those with hba1c levels at or below 5.6 (or, 4.80; p = 0.002).conclusion: the present findings showed that hba1c has the potential to predict the severity of cad in non-diabetic individuals. hba1c, even at levels within the normal range, was significantly correlated with syntax scores. keywords: coronary artery disease; glycated hemoglobin; syntax score; diabetes mellitus; iran