Electrocardiographic Left Ventricular Hypertrophy Among Gambian Diabetes Mellitus Patients.
BACKGROUND
The global prevalence of diabetes and its complications is increasing worldwide. Its role in coronary heart disease has been linked with the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The present study aims to determine the prevalence of electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy (ECG-LVH) in adult diabetic subjects, its epidemiological and clinical correlates.


METHODS
A descriptive cross-sectional study involving 534 patients was conducted at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (formerly Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital), The Gambia. Four hundred and forty patients were included using a standard questionnaire. Anthropometry, laboratory investigations and electrocardiogram were carried out. We used the Lewis, Cornell, and Sokolow-Lyon Voltage criteria to define ECG-LVH. Minitab™ statistical software version 13.20 was used for analysis.


RESULTS
146 (35.2%) patients had ECG-LVH using all 3 criteria and this prevalence was higher among women being 116 (79.5%). A generally high prevalence of overweight (155/37.4%) and obesity (119/28.6%) was observed among study participants, and both clinic-day systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) were significantly higher in those with ECG-LVH. Poor diabetes control was observed in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a high prevalence of ECG-LVH and it is especially so with combining multiple criteria, hence the need for screening. Clinic-day hypertension was associated with ECG-LVH hence the need for diagnosing and aggressive treatment of hypertension in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Service de Cardiologie, CHU Aristide Le Dantec, Dakar, Senegal.
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M
Jobe
Service de Cardiologie, CHU Aristide Le Dantec, Dakar, Senegal.
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A
Kane
Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of The Gambia, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Banjul, The Gambia.
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JC
Jones
Service de Cardiologie, CHU Aristide Le Dantec, Dakar, Senegal.
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S
Pessinaba
Department of Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
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BC
Nkum
Service de Cardiologie, CHU Aristide Le Dantec, Dakar, Senegal.
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S
Abdou Ba
Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of The Gambia, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Banjul, The Gambia.
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Nyan
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D058065:Diabetic Cardiomyopathies / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005714:Gambia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D001786:Blood Glucose
Diabetes mellitus; ECG-LVH; The Gambia; voltage criteria