Atrial fibrillation cases seen at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu

Aim : To determine the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) on electrocardiograms (ECG) of patients attending the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu. Subjects and Methods : Electrocardiograms done at the UNTH between April and September 2004 were analysed. The patients were mainly in-patients. Further information on the patients were obtained from their medical records. Results : 860 ECGs were studied. 30 of them (3.5%) had atrial fibrillation (AF). Seventeen (56.7%) were males and thirteen (43.3%) females. 66.7% of the cases were aged 50 years and above. In 33.3% of the cases, hypertension was the underlying disease, followed by valvular heart disease (23.3%). Conclusion : The incidence of AF in UNTH was 3.5%. There were more males than females with AF. Most of the cases were in the older age group. Hypertension was the commonest underlying disease. Keywords : atrial fibrillation, UNTH Journal of College of Medicine Vol. 10(2) 2005: 102-106