Prospective Analysis of Different Types of Arrhythmias Presenting in National Heart Institute ER

Background: The prevalence, presentation, complications and management of arrhythmia in Egyptian patients in ED hasn’t been formerly recorded. Our study results will act as the local database for upcoming studies.
Objective: To assess the most common types of arrhythmias, their way of presentation, their management and outcome on discharge of these patients in day-to-day practice in one of the specialized centers of cardiology in Egypt.
Subjects and Methods: Data were collected from 403 patients with arrhythmia admitted to Cardiology Department of Ain-Shams University Hospital. The participants were then divided into 2 groups: tachy- and bradyarrhythmia groups.
Results: There were (45.1%) cases of bradyarrhythmias, (51.1%) of them were females and (48.9%) were males, also there were (54.9%) cases of tachyarrhythmias (52.9%) of whom were females and (47.1%) were males, with no significant difference (P=0.73). In the bradyarrhythmia group: mean age of the patients was 56.8+12.2, while the tachyarrhythmia group: mean age of the patients was 49.2+17.5. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups concerning history of DM, HTN, history of smoking and history of IHD (P>0.05), but there was a significant difference between the 2 groups concerning history of RHD. There was a significant difference between male and female number of cases in most types of arrhythmias.
Conclusion: Arrhythmia cases constitute a small percent of general cardiac patients. Both genders are equally affected by arrhythmias. A 12 lead ECG with a long strip rhythm is an important, rapid and inexpensive tool in diagnosing different types of arrhythmias.