The Pattern of Cardiac Disease Admissions and Outcomes among Medical Admissions in St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College: A Retrospective Study.

Background: The epidemic of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is a global phenomenon, and approximately 80% of all cardiovascular-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries including Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to determine the pattern of cardiac admission and its outcome among the annual medical admissions in Addis Ababa. Method: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study to evaluate the pattern of cardiac diseases and outcomes among medical admissions at St Paul Specialized Hospital Millennium Medical College from the 1st of Jan 2020 to the 1st of Jan 2021. Results: The proportion of cardiac admission was 26% among 1,165 medical admissions. The most common cardiac admission was advanced congestive heart failure (CHF) (74% (224)), followed by hypertensive heart disease (HHD) (48.5%) and valvular heart disease (VHD)(23.5%), respectively. Chronic Rheumatic valvular heart disease (CRVHD) was 91.5% of the total VHD and was significantly higher among rural residents and younger populations (p<0.001). Over 12% of CRVHD patients were complicated with cardio-embolic stroke, constituting one-third of the total annual ischemic stroke admissions. Hypertension ((54%,) (164)) was the leading risk factor and was more common among urban residents (p=0.001). The mean duration of total hospital stay was 18.33 days. In-hospital mortality was 23.8% and was associated with shorter hospital stays (p<0.001). The most common immediate cause of death was sepsis of chest focus with multiorgan failure(27.8%), followed by fatal arrhythmia (20.8%) and brain herniation (15.3%), respectively. Conclusion: Cardiac diseases are common in the study area causing significant mortality among medical admissions. Therefore, early risk assessment, adequate disease control, and stringent inpatient care should be among the priorities to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Assessment of magnitude and spectrum of cardiovascular disease admissions and outcomes in Saint Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases(CVD) remain the leading cause of death in the world and over 80% of all cardiovascular-related deaths occur in low and middle income countries. Ethiopia is in epidemiologic transition from predominantly infectious diseases to non-communicable diseases and the CVD is a major public health challenge. METHODS: The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude and spectrum of cardiovascular admission and its outcomes among medical patients admitted to both Medical Ward and ICU of St. Paul Teaching Hospital from 1st of Jan 2020 to 1st of Jan 2021. RESULTS: Out of 1,165 annual medical admissions, the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases(CVD) was 30.3%. About 60%(212) of patients had advanced congestive heart failure of diverse causes. Hypertensive heart disease (HHD) was the next predominant diagnosis (41%(146)), and also the leading cause of cardiac diseases followed by rheumatic valvular heart disease(RVHD) (18%(64)) and Ischemic heart disease (IHD) (12.2%(43)), respectively. Yong age, rural residence and female sex were associated with RVHD(p = 0.001). Stroke also accounted for 20%(70) of CVD admission (hemorrhagic stroke-17% Vs Ischemic stroke-83%). Hypertension was the predominate risk factor for CVD and present in 46.7%(168) of patients. The mean hospital stay was 12days and in-hospital mortality rate was 24.3% with septic shock being the commonest immediate cause of death followed by fatal arrhythmia, brain herniation, and massive PTE. CONCLUSION: Cardiovascular diseases were common in the study area causing significant morbidity and mortality. Therefore, comprehensive approach is imperative to timely screen for cardiovascular risk reduction, disease control and complication prevention. Strategies should also be designed to increase public awareness regarding the cardiovascular risk reduction, drug adherence, and possible complications.

Feto-maternal outcomes of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in Yekatit-12 Teaching Hospital, Addis Ababa: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: In resource poor countries, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are common and form one of the deadly triads, along with hemorrhage and infection, which contribute greatly to maternal and fetal jeopardy. METHODS: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and determine the effects of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy on the feto-maternal outcomes. It was a descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective study on randomly selected 615 women who attended delivery at Yekatit-12 Teaching Hospital from 1st of July 2017 -1st of Jan 2018. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 software. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate rates. Chi-square statistics were used to estimate the associations among selected predictor variables. A p-value < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. RESULTS: Out of the 615 study population, the prevalence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy was found to be 25.4%, of which the majority (52.5%) was severe pre-eclampsia. Eclampsia accounted for 2.6%, and superimposed pre-eclampsia was 2.6%. The rate of severe pre-eclampsia with HELLP syndrome was 7.1% of all mothers with the hypertensive disorders. The majority of mothers with hypertensive disorders (59.6%) had age range of 25-34 years. About 46% of mothers required interventions to terminate the pregnancy either by cesarean section (42.3%) or instrumental deliveries (3.7%) due to conditions related to Hypertensive disorders. The rate of preterm, low birth weight, and low Apgar at 1st and 5thminutes accounted for 29.5, 24.4, 22.4 and 16.7% of neonates born to mothers with hypertensive disorders, respectively. Over 10.9% of neonates required resuscitation and 11.5% NICU referral. The rate of still birth was 3.8%. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is high in the study area and complicates maternal and fetal outcomes of the pregnancy. To deter its detrimental effects both on fetal and maternal outcomes of pregnancy, antenatal surveillance should be expanded to enable early detection, stringent follow-up and timely intervention in severely affected pregnancies.

Pattern of blood pressure distribution and prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension among adults in Northern Ethiopia: disclosing the hidden burden.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is the 3rd cause of death accounting for one in eight deaths worldwide. Hypertension was thought to be rare in Africa, but it is now recognized as one of the most important cerebrovascular diseases contributing to about 40% of these diseases in the continent.The aims of this study were to describe the pattern of blood pressure distribution among adults, and determine prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension among adults in Northern Ethiopia. METHOD: The study was done on a community-based sample of 1183 adults of 697 (58.8%) urban and 486 (41.1%) rural residents using statistical multistage sampling procedures. The study was based on the recent WHO and JNC-7 classification of blood pressure. Multi-item structured questionnaires were also developed to elicit additional information on the subjects. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension in the study population was 18.1% and 37.2%, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension positively correlated with body mass index and age in both urban and rural residents (P = 0.001). Sex and age adjusted mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) was statistically higher in urban than in rural population (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Hypertension was found to have high prevalence in the study region. However, people's awareness and control of hypertension was found to be very poor. Lack of a clear hypertension prevention guidelines and strategies nationwide can aggravate the impact of cardiovascular diseases.