Publication:

Echocardiographic evaluation of wall motion abnormality and systolic left ventricular dysfunction in acute myocardial infarction within 1st week of hospitalization

Background Acute myocardial infarction is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, commonly resulting in left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Early echocardiographic assessment helps identify wall motion abnormalities, guide prognosis, and optimize timely management during the first week of hospitalization. The objective was to find out cardiac wall motion abnormality and ejection fraction by echocardiography and its correlation with clinical features and ECG findings in patients of AMI.

Methods One hundred (100) cases of acute myocardial infarction were studied in cardiology unit of RMCH from July 2008 to December 2008. Mean age (±SD) was 50.22±11.59 years (range 25-80 years). It was an observational study. All selected patients were interviewed with a preformed questionnaire and were observed up to 7 days in hospital.

Results 88% of them were males and 12% of them were females. Males were mostly smokers (89.77%) and females were mostly hypertensive (75%). Most patients could reach in hospital within 4-12 hours of onset of symptoms due to acute left ventricular failure and cardiogenic shock. Anterior wall (49%) hypokinesia and mild systolic LV dysfunction were revealed in echocardiography among the survivors.

Conclusions This study is a hospital-based study and most of the patients came from rural areas of Rajshahi and nearby districts (85%). Incidence of AMI was seen common among farmers who were mostly smokers. Systolic LV dysfunction was common in most patients where anterior wall involvement was present.