Routine OGTTs are urged upon hospitalization for MI. (Undiagnosed Diabetes Common in Acute MI).

BERLIN -- Routine administration of an oral glucose tolerance test in the coronary care unit is an idea worthy of serious consideration, Dr. Lars Ryden asserted at the 24th Congress of the European Society of Cardiology.

That's because impaired glucose tolerance and even previously undiagnosed diabetes are extremely common among acute MI patients. Detecting affected patients promptly and bringing them into good metabolic control will improve their notoriously poor cardiovascular prognosis, said Dr. Ryden, professor of cardiology at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm.

He reported on 181 consecutive acute MI patients with no previous diagnosis of diabetes mellitus whose blood glucose was closely monitored during their hospitalization. Their blood glucose was measured upon admission, their fasting blood glucose was assessed daily and their hemoglobin [A.sub.1c] was measured on hospital day 1 and again at 3 ...