Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Mar 1;44(9):752-761.
doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehac662.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus and higher rate of complete atrioventricular block: a Danish Nationwide Registry

Saranda Haxha  1   2 , Andrim Halili  1   2 , Morten Malmborg  3 , Ulrik Pedersen-Bjergaard  4   5 , Berit T Philbert  6 , Tommi B Lindhardt  7 , Soeren Hoejberg  1 , Anne-Marie Schjerning  8 , Martin H Ruwald  7 , Gunnar H Gislason  7 , Christian Torp-Pedersen  2   9 , Casper N Bang  1
Affiliations

Type 2 diabetes mellitus and higher rate of complete atrioventricular block: a Danish Nationwide Registry

Saranda Haxha et al. Eur Heart J. .

Abstract

Aims: The present study aimed to determine the association between Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and third-degree (complete) atrioventricular block.

Methods and results: This nationwide nested case-control study included patients older than 18 years, diagnosed with third-degree atrioventricular block between 1 July 1995 and 31 December 2018. Data on medication, comorbidity, and outcomes were collected from Danish registries. Five controls, from the risk set of each case of third-degree atrioventricular block, were matched on age and sex to fit a Cox regression model with time-dependent exposure and time-dependent covariates. Subgroup analysis was conducted with Cox regression models for each subgroup. We located 25 995 cases with third-degree atrioventricular block that were matched with 130 004 controls. The mean age was 76 years and 62% were male. Cases had more T2DM (21% vs. 11%), hypertension (69% vs. 50%), atrial fibrillation (25% vs. 10%), heart failure (20% vs. 6.3%), and myocardial infarction (19% vs. 9.2%), compared with the control group. In Cox regression analysis, adjusting for comorbidities and atrioventricular nodal blocking agents, T2DM was significantly associated with third-degree atrioventricular block (hazard ratio: 1.63, 95% confidence interval: 1.57-1.69). The association remained in several subgroup analyses of diseases also suspected to be associated with third-degree atrioventricular block. There was a significant interaction with comorbidities of interest including hypertension, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and myocardial infarction.

Conclusion: In this nationwide study, T2DM was associated with a higher rate of third-degree atrioventricular block compared with matched controls. The association remained independent of atrioventricular nodal blocking agents and other comorbidities known to be associated with third-degree atrioventricular block.

Keywords: Atrioventricular block; Diabetes; Sudden cardiac death.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: S.H. reports educational grant from Medtronic covering conference fee to attend European Heart Rhythm association Congress 2022 in Copenhagen. C.T.P. reports grants from Bayer and Novo Nordisk unrelated to the current study. U.P.B. reports personal fee from Novo Nordisk and Sanofi for advisory work unrelated to current study. All other authors have nothing to disclose.

Comment in

Publication types