In-hospital Outcomes in Metabolically Healthy and Unhealthy Individuals over 65 years of Age with Obesity Undergoing Percutaneous Intervention for Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Nationwide Propensity-matched Analysis (2016-2020)

Background: The obesity paradox in patients with coronary artery disease is well established, but the role of the metabolic syndrome associated with obesity is not well studied. Our study aims to evaluate the in-hospital outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in metabolically healthy individuals with obesity (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy (MUHO) individuals with obesity over 65 years of age with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) between 2016 and 2020.

Methods: This was a retrospective and observational study. Patients were identified through utilizing the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) Database (2016-2020) and ICD-10 codes. By employing a -test and Pearson's Chi-square test, we assessed and contrasted the initial attributes, concurrent conditions, and results pertaining to all-cause mortality (ACM), cardiogenic shock (CS), length of stay (LOS), and hospitalization expense. Moreover, propensity score matching was conducted in a 1:1 ratio with respect to age, gender, and race. We also utilized multivariable logistic regression to compare MHO and MUHO in terms of the impact on all-cause mortality.

Results: Out of a total of 135,395 patients identified, 2995 patients with MUHO were matched with 2995 MHO patients. Patients in the MUHO group had a higher prevalence of chronic pulmonary disease (24.9 % vs. 19.5 %), peripheral vascular disease (9.3 % vs. 6.7 %), hypothyroidism (16 % vs. 11.5 %), prior myocardial infarction (15.9 % vs. 6.2 %), and prior stroke (7.5 % vs. 2.8 %). Patients in the MHO group had a higher ACM (12.4 % vs. 2.8 %, p < 0.001), CS (18.55 % vs. 7 %, p < 0.001), stroke (2.2 % vs. 1 %, p < 0.001), ventricular assist device insertions (5.2 % vs. 2.7 %, p < 0.001), and IABP insertions (8.8 % vs. 3.8 %) compared to the MUHO cohort.

Conclusion: Our study revealed an obesity paradox in individuals over 65 years of age undergoing PCI demonstrating worse outcomes, including higher in-hospital mortality, CS, stroke, Ventricular assist device and IABP insertion in MHO patients compared to the MUHO cohort.