title: Electrocardiographic alterations in patients hospitalized with leptospirosis in the Brazilian city of Salvador.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report the frequency and types of electrocardiographic alterations in patients with leptospirosis in the first 24 hours of hospitalization.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the electrocardiograms of 157 patients admitted to the Hospital Couto Maia in the city of Salvador, in the State of Bahia, Brazil, from March 1998 to June 1999. The electrocardiograms were performed in the first 24 hours after hospital admission, independent of the clinical manifestations of the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean +/- SD for patients' age was 35.5+/- 13.7 (median = 32) years, and jaundice was present in 95.5% of them. Alterations in the electrocardiogram were detected in 68.2% (107/157) of the patients (95% confidence interval = 60.6% - 75.1%). Atrial fibrillation was the most frequent arrhythmia, occurring in 10.8% (17/157) of the patients. Other frequent findings were alterations in ventricular repolarization detected in 38.9% (61/157) of patients and first-degree atrioventricular block in 10.2% (16/157). The patients with atrial fibrillation were older and had higher levels of creatinine and aminotransferases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this sample, approximately 2/3 of the patients had electrocardiographic alterations after hospital admission. Of the major arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation was the most frequent, and the patients with this arrhythmia had evidence of more severe disease. The relation between the presence and type of electrocardiographic alteration and the prognosis of leptospirosis is yet to be assessed.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitário Professor Edgard Santos, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil. edil.son@ssa.terra.com.br
authors.forename: Edilson
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sacramento
authors.forename: Antonio Alberto
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Everaldo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Olaivio Lima
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Passos
authors.forename: Yara Aragão
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Eliana Dias
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Matos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence