Pattern of cardiovascular diseases at a teaching hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: An echocardiographic study of 1500 patients

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent a significant global health problem. They account for nearly one third of deaths worldwide. With improvements in diagnostic modalities, their prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is rising. Disease pattens vary in different regions and communities and the pattern in our setting is not known. Echocardiography is a noninvasive diagnostic tool that essential for structural and hemodynamic assessment of the heart. It stands at the far front for comprehensive evaluation of the heart because of its relative low cost and wide availability. The aim of this study was to assess pattern of CVDs among patients who had echocardiography done at a teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A retrospective review of 1500 echocardiograms of patients referred to the echocardiography laboratory of St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC) for cardiac evaluation from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 was performed. All subjects had standard transthoracic echocardiography performed by cardiologists using General Electric Vivid E9 and E95 machines. Demographic parameters and echocardiographic findings were collected using a structured checklist from the echocardiography register. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the echocardiographic findings. The mean age of subjects was 48.2 (SD of 18.2) and ranged between 14 and 100 years of age. Both males and females were nearly equally distributed with males accounting for 48.3%. Most (77.9%) of the subjects had an abnormal echocardiographic report; only 332 (22.1%) had a normal study. Diastolic dysfunction (DD) (33.4%), valvular heart disease (18.4%), and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (13.7%) were the most common findings in our hospital. Among patients with DD, Grade 1 dysfunction accounted for the majority (79.8%), of which 41% had associated LVH. Pulmonary hypertension (PH), cardiomyopathy and ischemic heart disease were also not uncommon. Abnormal echocardiographic findings are common in patients referred to our hospital for transthoracic echo. The commonest echocardiographic abnormalities were DD, Valvular heart disease (both rheumatic and calcific valves) and LVH.