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Cardiac disease distribution among patients referred for echocardiography in Harare, Zimbabwe
1Department of Medicine, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Insights
Rheumatic heart disease was the most common cardiac diagnosis in Zimbabwean patients, particularly affecting females. Echocardiography is a valuable tool for diagnosing diverse heart conditions in this population.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Tertiary referral hospitals manage a wide spectrum of cardiac diseases.
- Understanding disease distribution is crucial for resource allocation and targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To ascertain the prevalence and types of cardiac diseases diagnosed in patients undergoing echocardiography at a tertiary hospital in Zimbabwe.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional survey was conducted.
- 1,507 patients referred for echocardiographic evaluation were included.
- Cardiac diagnoses were determined through clinical, radiological, and echocardiographic assessments.
Main Results:
- 76.5% of echocardiographic studies revealed abnormalities.
- Rheumatic heart disease was the predominant diagnosis (25.1%), with mitral stenosis common in females and mitral regurgitation in males.
- Other significant diagnoses included pericardial disease (22.4%), dilated cardiomyopathy (22.0%), and hypertensive heart disease (13.3%).
Conclusions:
- Echocardiography is an effective diagnostic modality for a broad range of cardiac conditions in this setting.
- Comprehensive assessments facilitate accurate diagnosis.
- Rheumatic heart disease represents a substantial burden, especially among females.
Objective:
To determine the distribution of cardiac diseases seen in a tertiary referral hospital.
Design:
Cross sectional survey.
Setting:
Harare Central Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Subjects:
1,507 patients referred for echocardiographic evaluation.
Main Outcome Measure:
Cardiac diagnosis.
Results:
1,153 (76.5%) echocardiographic studies were abnormal, while 354 were normal. Rheumatic heart disease was the predominant diagnosis (25.1%) with 208 (74.3%) of cases being females. The main valvular lesion in females was mitral stenosis (48.1%), while in males it was mitral regurgitation (61.1%). Other diagnoses were: pericardial disease 250 (22.4%), dilated cardiomyopathy 245 (22.0%), hypertensive heart disease 148 (13.3%) and others (17.4%). There were 65 cases of peripartum cardiomyopathy among the cases of dilated cardiomyopathy and 34 cases of acute myocarditis among "others".
Conclusion:
A detailed clinical, radiological and echocardiographic assessment at the time of echocardiography enabled a credible diagnosis to be assigned to the majority of patients. Echocardiography is appropriate technology in this setting given the range of "echo-friendly" cardiac lesions found.