Etiology of heart failure in the emergency department of a tertiary cardiac centre of Nepal

Abstract

Background and Aims: Heart failure is a major global health problem, but studies on prevalence of heart disease in Nepal are sparse. The aim of this study is to describe the etiology of heart failure patients in emergency department of Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre.Methods: This was a single centre, prospective, observational study, conducted in the Emergency Department of National Heart Centre, from 1st May to 30th August 2016. All (n=591) consecutive patients with clinical diagnosis of heart failure were evaluated.Results: The mean age of the patients was 56.48 ±19.44 years, with 45.9% males. 31.3% had atrial fibrillation. The commonest cause of heart failure was rheumatic heart disease (25.1%), followed by dilated cardiomyopathy (22.8%), and coronary artery disease (18.1%). The commonest causes in the age group ≤44 years were rheumatic heart disease (61.9%), and congenital heart disease (11.0%). Commonest causes in the age groups 45 – 64 years and ≥ 65 years were dilated cardiomyopathy (29.0% and 26.4%, respectively) and coronary artery disease (22.3% and 24.3%, respectively). The commonest causes in male was dilated cardiomyopathy (26.9%) and in female it was rheumatic heart disease (31.6%).Conclusion: Rheumatic heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy and coronary artery disease are the commonest cause of heart failure. Appropriate prevention strategies focused at these causes of heart failure are required to decrease the burden of heart failure in Nepal.Nepalese Heart Journal 2017; Vol 14(2), 1-4

Heart failure self-care, factors influencing self-care and the relationship with health-related quality of life: A cross-sectional observational study

“…The prevalence and associated toll of HF are expected to increase in Nepal with a shift of disease burden from communicable disease to non-communicable disease [7], the aging of the population, increasing life expectancy [8], and a higher prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (one of the leading causes of death in Nepal) [9]. A search of the literature on HF in Nepal generated only a handful of studies that were limited to clinical patient profiles, causes of HF, and HF medication use [10,11,12,13]. Hence, there is a need for studies to increase our knowledge of HF and improve the management of HF in Nepal.…”

Etiological spectrum of Heart Failure in a tertiary health care facility of Central Nepal

“…However, Cor-pulmonale patients were excluded from our study. In contrast, a study from Central part of Nepal conducted at emergency department among the HF patients diagnosed by Framingham criteria, reported the commonest cause as rheumatic heart disease (25.1%), followed by dilated cardiomyopathy (22.8%), and coronary artery disease (18.1%) 22 . However, in our study outpatient and admitted patients were included and HF was diagnosed by European Society of Cardiology criteria.…”