Pattern of cardiovascular admissions at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, South East Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the top killer diseases in the world sparing neither developed or developing countries. The study was carried out to determine the pattern of cardiovascular admissions at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi South East Nigeria. METHODS: The study was a retrospective study covering the period January 2007 to December 2009. SPSS version 13 software was used to analyze data. RESULTS: 537 (15%) patients were admitted into the study out of 3546 patients {females 1756 and 1790} admitted into medical wards. 322 (60%) of study population were males and 215 (40%) females. 359(67.5%) were discharged, 170 (32%) died and 8 (0.5%) were discharged against medical advice. The majority of the deaths 105(61.8%), were in patients with CVA. Most of the deaths (111 or 65.3%) occurred within the first seven days of admission. The mean age of the population was 60.7 years ±15.9 with a range of 18 to 110 years. The length of stay in hospital ranged between 1 and 140 days with a mean of 13.5 ± 13.9 days and a median of 10 days. 33 of the subjects were single, 406 were married, 94 were widowed (11 males and 83 females) and 4 were divorced. 46.7% (251) were admitted for CVA and 30.9% (166) for heart failure. Cardiomyopathy/valvular heart diseases (clinical diagnosis due to absence of echocardiography) constituted 3.9%, hypertension 20.5% and pre-existing hypertension with uremia 1.9%. CONCLUSION: The study has shown that cardiovascular disease contributed significantly to medical admissions the elderly accounting for a significant proportion. There is thus the need for intensification of primary preventive strategies for cardiovascular diseases.