The frequency of arrhythmias in COVID-19 patients, a study in the Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital of Ilam from March to August 2020

Abstract

Cardiac arrhythmias are important causes of death among populations and are always responsible for a high percentage of mortality in hospitalized patients. The aim of this descriptive analytical study was to evaluate the frequency of arrhythmias in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital of Ilam from March to August 2020. All the COVID-19 patients with a cardiac condition admitted to the intensive care unit were enrolled in the study by census. Electrocardiography (ECG) and Holter monitoring were used to diagnose arrhythmias. Data analysis was performed in Microsoft Excel using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage). The total number of eligible patients was 45, of whom 26 (57.8%) were men and 19 (42.2%) were women. The mortality rate of arrhythmias among COVID-19 patients was 17.77% (8 out of 45 patients), and the recovery rate was 82.13% (37 out of 45 patients). Tachycardia and a lack of response to heart-rate-reducing drugs were observed in patients with COVID-19. Owing to an overlap between these symptoms and those of heart diseases, there is a need to further evaluate patients with arrhythmias. Although arrhythmias are not common in COVID-19 patients, they can be fatal and have a high mortality rate, which can be prevented by early detection.

Keywords: Arrhythmia; Holter monitor; atrial fibrillation; coronavirus disease 2019; electrocardiography.

Fig. 1

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and premature ventricular contraction (PVC) arrhythmias in men and women with coronavirus disease 2019. Out of nine patients with each of AF and PVC arrhythmias, five were male and four were female.