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.