European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background: CVD is a major non-communicable disease in India with a high burden of morbidity and mortality. A large proportion of the cardiovascular diseases consist of coronary artery disease (CAD). Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is an important sub-class of CAD associated with significant mortality. Most of the deaths during the peri-infarction period are due to cardiac arrhythmias, a condition for which reliable evidence from India is lacking. Assessment of the patterns and management of cardiac arrhythmias in the Indian subcontinent thus becomes essential to quantify, and more importantly, to prevent the high mortality associated with the disease.
Objectives: The objectives of our study were: a) To determine the demography, presentation, patterns, treatments of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients with arrhythmia.
Methods: A prospective, follow-up study over Two years at the Department of Cardiology, Jay Prabha Medanta super  Speciality Hospital, Patna. We recruited 202 patients with AMI. Of these, 102 developed arrhythmia and 100 did not develop arrhythmia. Patients with AMI and arrhythmia were followed-up at 1 month and 6 months after discharge. Data on demography, patient presentation, patterns of arrhythmias, treatments and outcomes were collected. Baseline data were summarized using descriptive statistics.
Conclusion: In this study, we described the demography of AMI patients who developed arrhythmias, patterns of arrhythmias and their treatment in a tertiary-care hospital in India. We found out that about half the patients with AMI develop arrhythmia as a complication. Most of the patients received pharmacotherapy for the treatment of arrhythmias, few received non-pharmacological measures in addition to drug therapy. Revascularization is known to be the best treatment for infarct-related complications.