To study cardiac manifestations in patients presenting with dengue infection and to find out the correlation of cardiac manifestations to warning signs of dengue

Background:  This study was done to observe the presence of Electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in patients presenting with dengue infection and to evaluate whether there were any related clinical cardiac manifestations and to find out the correlation of cardiac manifestations to warning signs of dengue. Methods: The study was conducted at MLN Medical College, Allahabad in the Department of Medicine between July 2016 to December 2016. One hundred consecutive patients aged 18 years or more with positive dengue serology were interviewed and examined. ECG was done for all patients. The data was analyzed using statistical significance tests. Results:  Thirty-six patients had no warning signs, 64 patients had warning signs, out of which 43 patients had two or more warning signs while 21 patients had single warning sign. Most common warning sign in this study was abdominal pain (50%) and Vomiting (45 %) while hepatomegaly was the least common warning sign. The most common cardiac abnormalities noted were rhythm abnormalities of which the commonest was sinus bradycardia, found in 60 percent. There was statistically significant correlation between cardiac manifestations and all the warning signs except lethargy/restlessness and hepatomegaly. Conclusions:  The most common cardiac manifestations noted were transient rhythm abnormalities, of which sinus bradycardia was the commonest. There was no evidence of myocarditis in any of the patients. There was statistically significant correlation between cardiac manifestations and all the warning signs except lethargy/restlessness and hepatomegaly.