Atrial fibrillation before 50 years: epidemiological, clinical and etiological aspects in Guinean cardiology

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder in humans. Al though it mainly affects the elderly, it can also be present in young people. In the absence of treatment, atrial fibrillation can have serious complications, including stroke or heart failure. The absence of an earlier study on AF before 50 years in Guinea, the multiplicity of etiologies motivated the present work with the objectives of determining the magnitude of AF before 50 years and identify the most common etiology. This was a prospective study that included 20 cases of atrial fibrillation in subjects under 50 years of age in the cardiac department of Ignace Deen National Hospital between 1st December 2017 and 30th June 2018. Included in this study were all patients under the age of 50, regardless of sex, who have an FA diagnosed on a resting electrocardiogram. During the study period 80 cases of FA were collected on 398 hospitalizations or a hospital frequency of 20.1% of which 20cas of FA in the subjects aged under 50 years were identified either a frequency of 5.02 %. The most frequent age group was 20 to 29 years old, ie 40% with the extreme age of 11 and 49 for a median age of 34.2 years. The female gender was predominant, 65% versus 35% of the male gender. Valvulopathies and pericarditis accounted for the most common etiologies (60% and 15%, respectively). Atrial fibrillation is not only the prerogative of the elderly. Before the age of 50, the etiology is dominated by valvulopathies because of the endemicity of rheumatic fever in our tropical environments.