The clinical and etiological profile of atrial fibrillation after echocardiography in a tertiary care centre from North India - a cross sectional observational study

Authors

  • Ranvijay Singh Department of Nephrology, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Rajesh Kashyap Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Rajeev Bhardwaj Department of Cardiology, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Rajeev Marwaha Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Manish Thakur Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Thakur Prashant Singh Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Ritesh Kalawar Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Soni Kumar Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20170623

Keywords:

Atrial fibrillation, Subhimalayan region

Abstract

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in clinical practice. In western countries, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a rare cause of atrial fibrillation but in developing countries like India it is one of the commonest cause of atrial fibrillation. We studied etiology, left atrial size and the incidence of left atrial appendage clot in patients with atrial fibrillation at our institution so that guidelines could be formulated to manage the patients of AF in the hours of emergency.

Methods: 110 consecutive patients of atrial fibrillation coming to emergency, cardiology and medicine outpatient department over a period of one year were enrolled for the study. Ethical committee clearance was taken. Detailed history were taken, clinical presentation reviewed  and examination were carried out. All patients were subjected to transthoracic echocardiography and for transesophageal echocardiography if required.

Results: The mean age of patients in the study was 58.42±14.27 years (range 22-90 years). Maximum numbers of patients were in the age group of 61-70 years (26.37%). Out of 110 patients with atrial fibrillation, 72 patients (65.46%) were females and 38 patients (34.54%) were males. Majority of patients presented with more than one symptom. Out of 110, 66 patients (60%) had RHD. Among RHD patients, 50 patients (45.55%) were females and 16 patients (14.55%) were males. Next common causes were hypertensive heart disease and degenerative valvular heart disease.

Conclusions: In our study RHD was the most common cause of atrial fibrillation, followed by hypertensive heart disease and degenerative valvular heart disease. Mitral valve involvement was seen in all patients of RHD. Left atrial enlargement was seen in majority of patients, so left atrial enlargement could be a predictor of atrial fibrillation. Patients of left atrial enlargement are more prone to develop left atrial appendage clot.

Author Biography

Ranvijay Singh, Department of Nephrology, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

assoc. professor Medicine IGMC SHIMLA

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Published

2017-02-20

How to Cite

Singh, R., Kashyap, R., Bhardwaj, R., Marwaha, R., Thakur, M., Singh, T. P., Kalawar, R., & Kumar, S. (2017). The clinical and etiological profile of atrial fibrillation after echocardiography in a tertiary care centre from North India - a cross sectional observational study. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 5(3), 847–850. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20170623

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Original Research Articles