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 Sep 21;18(1):50.
doi: 10.5334/gh.1261. eCollection 2023.

Types and Outcomes of Arrhythmias in a Cardiac Care Unit in Western Kenya: A Prospective Study

Joan Kiyeng  1   2 , Constantine Akwanalo  1 , Wilson Sugut  1 , Felix Barasa  1 , Ann Mwangi  3 , Benson Njuguna  4 , Abraham Siika  2 , Rajesh Vedanthan  5
Affiliations

Types and Outcomes of Arrhythmias in a Cardiac Care Unit in Western Kenya: A Prospective Study

Joan Kiyeng et al. Glob Heart. .

Abstract

Background: Sustained arrhythmias are frequently encountered in cardiac care units (CCU), but their types and outcomes in Africa are unknown. Studies from high-income countries suggest arrhythmias are associated with worse outcomes.

Objectives: To determine the types and proportion of cardiac arrhythmias among patients admitted to the CCU at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), and to compare 30-day outcomes between patients with and without arrhythmias at the time of CCU admission.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study of a cohort of all patients admitted to MTRH-CCU between March and December 2021. They were stratified on the presence or absence of arrhythmia at the time of CCU admission, irrespective of whether it was the primary indication for CCU care or not. Clinical characteristics were collected using a structured questionnaire. Participants were followed up for 30 days. The primary outcome of interest was 30-day all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were 30-day all-cause readmission and length of hospital stay. The 30-day outcomes were compared between the patients with and without arrhythmia, with a p value < 0.05 being considered statistically significant.

Results: We enrolled 160 participants. The median age was 46 years (IQR 31, 68), and 95 (59.4%) were female. Seventy (43.8%) had a diagnosis of arrhythmia at admission, of whom 62 (88.6%) had supraventricular tachyarrhythmias, five (7.1%) had ventricular tachyarrhythmias, and three (4.3%) had bradyarrhythmia. Atrial fibrillation was the most common supraventricular tachyarrhythmia (82.3%). There was no statistically significant difference in the primary outcome of 30-day mortality between those who had arrhythmia at admission versus those without: 32.9% versus 30.0%, respectively (p = 0.64).

Conclusion: Supraventricular tachyarrhythmias were common in critically hospitalized cardiac patients in Western Kenya, with atrial fibrillation being the most common. Thirty-day all-cause mortality did not differ significantly between the group admitted with a diagnosis of arrhythmia and those without.

Keywords: Arrhythmias; Atrial Fibrillation; Cardiac Care Unit.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Recruitment and follow up of arrhythmia and no arrhythmia group
Figure 1
Flow diagram showing study recruitment schema.
Prevalence and types of arrhythmias at admission
Figure 2
Types and proportion of cardiac arrhythmias.
Comparison of 30-day mortality between arrhythmia and no arrhythmia group
Figure 3
Kaplan-Meier curve showing overall 30 days survival by arrhythmia status at admission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Valderrábano RJ, Blanco A, Santiago-Rodriguez EJ, et al. Risk factors and clinical outcomes of arrhythmias in the medical intensive care unit. Journal Intensive Care. 2016; 4: 9. DOI: 10.1186/s40560-016-0131-x - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tongyoo S, Permpikul C, Haemin R, Epichath N. Predicting factors, incidence and prognosis of cardiac arrhythmia in medical, non-acute coronary syndrome, critically ill patients. Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand. 2013; 96(Suppl 2): S238–45. https://europepmc.org/article/med/23590048. - PubMed
    1. Annane D, Sébille V, Duboc D, et al. Incidence and prognosis of sustained arrhythmias in critically ill patients. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2008; 178(1): 20–25. DOI: 10.1164/rccm.200701-031OC - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kobayashi Y. How to manage various arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in the cardiovascular intensive care. Journal of Intensive Care. 2018; 6(1): 23. DOI: 10.1186/s40560-018-0292-x - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Papadopoulos CH, Oikonomidis D, Lazaris E, Nihoyannopoulos P. Echocardiography and cardiac arrhythmias. Hellenic Journal of Cardiology. 2018; 59(3): 140–149. DOI: 10.1016/j.hjc.2017.11.017 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources